6th Year Revised
by quibblergirl
Summary: A 6th year revision in which Hermione and Ron have a very different experience together. Consistent with the book up until Slughorn's Christmas party through Ron's birthday poisoning. Somewhat fluffy but hopefully entertaining to all the Romione lovers! Mostly Ron's POV because I felt his character was shortchanged in the book!
1. Part 1

The party was a disaster. Within seconds of their meeting at the entrance hall to proceed to Slughorn's office, his hands were everywhere. _God, why am I doing this?_ Hermione thought. At the party, she carried around a plate of food with her all night just hoping it would be a good enough deterrent to Cormac's tentacles. It didn't stop him from wrapping his arms around her waist from behind and burying his face in her neck whenever -any chance she had to leave this party with her dignity was already gone. Harry noticed her hiding behind the curtain at the party but before she could ask him for advice or engage him in a plan for a full escape, Cormac was on her trail again and she had to leave Harry to stall him if only for a minute, so she could slip into the bathroom.

"I will just say I'm not feeling well and wish to go back to the dormitory." she said determinedly and aloud facing the mirror. She would suggest that he stay on at the party and hoped that he would - but knew better. He would want to walk her back to Gryffindor Tower to make his final moves.

Ron was half paying attention as his game of chess with Seamus ended when he glanced up at the clock in the common room. It was 9:15pm - the party started over an hour ago and he thought they surely must be there by now. He didn't see them leave together, which would have sent him over the edge. But he did notice Hermione leave on her own and he was struck dumb with how lovely she looked for the party. Beyond lovely really-beautiful. He let himself gaze awkwardly only for a few seconds but was quickly jerked back to reality by the heart-sinking thought that came next... _she wants to look good for him_. He was then pounced by his girlfriend, Lavender, and she took his hand and began to squawk at him something about the lines of their palms being in sync ... god she was boring.

"I need to be gone for a bit this evening. I told Hagrid I would do something for him tonight." he said abruptly, pulling his hand away quickly as if on fire. "I probably won't be back until late so you should just not wait up for me." She looked put out and confused but didn't argue or ask questions. He quickly walked through the portrait hole into the corridor. I just need to get out of there, thought Ron, just go sit and be away from her for a bit. They had been together now over a week, but the intensity was just too much for Ron. Sure the kissing was great at first, but she was often coming up and catching him off his guard with an aggressive kiss that was just-well kind of mental. For the first couple of days, he let himself get caught up in it; this was the first girl who had ever paid him this kind of attention.

Looking back on the week's events though, he wasn't sure if it was all worth it. Hermione was not speaking to him since he started up with Lavender. Hermione not speaking to him was worse than Hermione angry with him. At least with her anger, he knew he still had a way in. This was tougher. His response was to be mean to her-which made things go from bad to worse. The day after she, and everyone else, witnessed Ron and Lavender's first kiss, she approached him to ask about his intentions to go to Slughorn's party with her, he was with Lavender and Hermione's voice was small, but business-like, "Ron, I just want to know if you still plan to attend Slughorn's party with me on Saturday. I need to just...er...make sure I am...properly prepared if your plans have changed." As she spoke she looked down at her hands and he could clearly see a look on her face that he had hardly seen on her face before-was it hurt? Before he could answer, Lavender burst into a fit of giggles, as did Pavarti, they both heard her inquiry to Ron and couldn't help but take the opportunity to poke fun. "You're not seriously going to ask my boyfriend to go out on a date with you, and right in front of me? Are you mental!?" Lavender spurted. Ron noted that a typical response from Hermione would be a witty retort, but instead her eyes met his, searchingly, and when he offered nothing as a response, she walked away. "Ron, I seriously don't know how you have been friends with her for so long-she is so stuffy!" Pavarti exclaimed. "Yes and how on earth she ever got Victor Krum to take her to the Yule Ball is a mystery that will never be solved!" remarked Lavender. At the mention of Krum's name, Ron's anger was flamed again. He was struck by how the thought of Hermione with Krum, Hermione kissing Krum, made him want to punch something. Instead, he grabbed Lavender and pulled her in for more kissing trying to distract himself from that maddening thought. It didn't really work.

Later in the week he made a very terrible decision to poke fun of Hermione in front of the entire Potions class - much to the delight of Lavender and her friends. She again showed that unfamiliar look of hurt but it was more than that-she looked devastated. She fled from class so quickly that she even left her bag and books behind. Harry gave Ron a scathing look and then grabbed her things to follow her out. Later at dinner, she didn't come down, Harry's reproach was harsh, "That was cruel you know, it is one thing to poke fun at her when it is just the three of us, but you really needn't work so hard to destroy her like that." Ron's guilt and shame was like a hot boulder in his stomach, he responded with his own harsh tone, "Destroy her? What the bloody hell are you talking about?! She is the one who hasn't treated me decent all week! And did you forget about her bird attack! Yesterday I tried to ask her about her history essay and she flat out ignored me!" Harry's was quick with the response, "Come off it! You are punishing her for something that may, or may not, have happened two years ago!" Ron was speechless. Just then, Lavender grabbed Ron around the neck and began giggling in his ear. "Oh hi Harry!" she said looking up as if to notice he was just there. "Where's your little friend Hermione this evening-library?" Harry glared at Ron - who looked embarrassed of himself - and took his plate down to sit with Seamus, Dean and Ginny.

As she left the party with Cormac, Hermione gave Harry one last wave and look of desperation. He was not obliged to help her because he felt she was wrong to bring Cormac. She knew Cormac would annoy Ron the most and Harry called her out on that. "Serves you right!" he said to her when she explained her frustration with Cormac's behaviors. The corridor from Slughorn's office to main hall was quite long. "You know, these little nooks along the corridor look very cozy." said Cormac as he grabbed her hand, "Maybe we could just spend some alone time here and get to know each other a little better here before we go back to the common room?" But she was desperate to get to the common room, where she knew he would be unlikely to continue his pursuits with others around, it was early enough that most of the Gryffindors were probably still awake.

"Oh, I am quite tired Cormac. I think we should just call it a night." she responded, pulling her hand away.

He persisted, walked a couple of steps ahead of her and turned to face her, walking backward, "Come on Granger, you can't tell me you haven't been wondering what it would be like to kiss me." he said with a smug and wide smile on his face.

_What did he just say!?_ She stopped walking to keep herself from laughing out loud. "I mean, you asked me to this party so we could get to know each other better, right?" He then stepped closer to her and pulled her in by putting his hands around her waist. She was too stunned by his arrogance to respond verbally, she pulled away, but pulled herself right into one of the cozy little nooks. He then positioned himself in such a way within the nook to block her from escaping.

"Seriously Granger, you're going to put me on like this?" he smugly asked.

"No one is putting you on Cormac, please let me by."

Her face was stern as was her voice, she was trying not to get too angry with him because she felt deep in her heart that by asking him to come with her tonight, and knowing how he felt about her, she was in some way-putting him on. He put his arms down by his side then, giving her space to slide by on either side of him, but when she moved left, he moved that way, when she moved right, he did the same-smiling that smug smile the whole time.

"Really Cormac?" she asked in frustration.

His next move was to grab her again by the waist with both hands and pull her into him, "You look really pretty tonight." he said softly, "I don't think it would be fair to call it a night until I get a goodnight kiss." She tried to pull back from him but he held on tight. "Let go of me." she said calmly as he bent forward leaning in to kiss her neck. "I said let go of me Cormac..." she struggled with him, but he was clearly strong enough to maintain her there. "Not so tough without your wand are you?" he said to her. Within a second, his hands were groping her up and down the front and she even felt his hand moving up her skirt on her thigh. "No Cormac, please let me go..." she uttered.

Just as she gained enough sense to do the sensible thing-scream, a force pulled Cormac off of her and across the floor of the corridor. Cormac lay face down on the marble floor for a second before turning to see Ron standing squarely between Hermione and himself. Ron's face was as flaming red as his hair and he looked as if he might explode. "Don't you ever touch her again or I'll kill you!" he cried out to Cormac, in a fierce but somewhat cracked tone. He then turned and took Hermione's hand and pulled her down the corridor toward the entrance hall.

As they raced down the hall, Hermione taking two steps to Ron's one, he pulled her along by holding onto her hand, tightly. "Ron, please, you're squeezing my hand too tight." she said. He slowed down, "Oh, sorry." he said and gently released her hand. They continued a quick pace with Ron in the lead as they headed up the stairs to the tower, but Ron slowed his pace a little and then came to a full stop around the midway point of the stairs. He turned around to face her "Are you okay?" he asked. She couldn't look him in eye, "Umm, fine. I'm fine now." But she didn't look fine, she looked as if she might start to cry any second and he knew she hated to have him see her so helpless and vulnerable. He noticed that the strap of her dress was undone and falling off her shoulder, which made her look even more vulnerable. _God she is beautiful_, he thought. Then tears were falling down her face and he knew she couldn't control it. "Oh Ron I am so sorry for that!" she cried and dropped herself to sit on the stairs, her fluffy pink skirt surrounded her like a cloud. Head buried in her knees, she cried and muffled something that sounded like "sorry" again. He was confused, "Why are you apologizing?" he asked, "Cormac is the git who should be apologizing!" he said through gritted teeth. His face was still flaming and he felt as if he would indeed kill Cormac if he saw him again tonight. But then Hermione spoke, "I know he is absolutely vile, but I should have never asked him to come with me. I knew it was a bad idea from the start. But I didn't think he would go that far." she sniffed but kept her head in her knees as she spoke. "It's not your fault Hermione." he said with sincerity but also with a little guilt as he sat down next to her. If he had kept his word to attend the party with her, none of this would have happened. She continued to speak with her head buried, through muffled voice, "But I am sorry for the way things have been between us for the past week. I have been just awful to you Ron and inviting Cormac to the party just because I knew it would annoy you..." she let her words turn into small sobs. Ron felt a bit confused about the last thing she said. Why would she want to annoy Ron by bringing Cormac? He sat down next to her and said softly, "I haven't exactly been a saint to you either you know." At this she raised her head and stared straight ahead, "I just want things to go back to how they were before, I want to be friends again. You, me and Harry." She sniffed quietly and went on, "I accept that you have a girlfriend and I know I need to learn to live with that." She turned to look at him, "I will learn to live with it because I can't lose you as a friend. Do you understand what I'm saying?" He was not exactly sure he did fully understand what she was saying as he found himself lost in her eyes, which were tearful and bright-they were beautiful.

"Ron, I promise I will be a better friend to you, and I can make an effort to get along with Lavender as well if that means we can be friends again." He found his way back to her words but was unable to comprehend the meaning behind them. He was so unsure of what he should say, he said nothing at all. "Does that sound like a deal?" she asked, to which he nodded yes. "Good." she said with a small smile. She gathered her skirt around her and stood on the marble steps. He looked up at her as she held out her hand with a smile, her eyes were watery but bright, "Truce?" she asked waiting for him to shake. Ron took her hand and held it as he stood; their eyes were locked in something very intense, very different for both. He knew he had never looked at her in this way before and he could see the effect it had on her. He had so many questions about what happened and what she had said, where to start? But instead of asking them he just pulled her hand to him and kissed it gently, like a gentleman, all the while maintaining her eyes with his. To this act, she felt as if her heart would beat right out through her chest, and Ron could see the red heat rising from her chest to her neck. He imagined he himself was bloody purple by now. "You should go on up to bed now, before Cormac shows his face." he said to her. She nodded, speechless from the hand kiss. "Goodnight Hermione." he said, "Good night Ron, and thank you." and then she climbed through the portrait hole into the common room.

Ron stood on the marble steps for a full minute trying to digest it all. His anger at Cormac was still overwhelming him. He knew when he left Lavender in the common room earlier that evening that his intention was to spy on the party goers-spy on Hermione and Cormac. He found a quiet spot along the corridor and was damn glad he had decided to be jealous prat tonight. What in blazes would have happened if he didn't show up tonight? Cormac was sadly mistaken if he thought this was over.

Then there was Hermione. God she was beautiful tonight. She always was in his eyes but tonight, she was really something. What did she say about taking Cormac to annoy him? Why would she do that? What was that business about "learning to live" with Ron having a girlfriend? He had no idea how to interpret any of that part of the conversation. What he did understand fully, was that she wanted to be friends again. To this, he was elated. He enjoyed rowing with her now and then but this past week had been miserable. He missed his friend, and he missed the three of them together too. He wished he would have told her that he was sorry for all the mean things he did to her this past week. He wished he would have told her that he was so sorry for not going to Slughorn's party with her and driving her to take that git, Cormac. He had a lot of regrets over the past week. But he felt good about one thing he did - kissing her hand had been brilliant. Watching her reaction had been bloody brilliant. He couldn't help but smile when he thought about it. He felt tired and his head was swimming. He wanted to head up to the dormitory and go to bed and think about Hermione, but he didn't want to run into Lavender again tonight.

Lavender! Bloody hell, he had a girlfriend.

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	2. Part 2

The next day, Sunday, all students were busy packing to head home for the Christmas holiday. Over the next two weeks Harry would be spending Christmas with the Weasleys. So Ron knew he would have time to discuss the events of last night with Harry. Part of him wanted to ask Harry's opinions on the events, but part of him wanted to keep it all to himself. There was not much the two did not share with each other, but Ron's experience with Hermione last night was something he wasn't completely sure he wanted to share. One part of him knew that she would be embarrassed if Harry knew about her ordeal with Cormac. He didn't want to do that to her. Another part of him needed some help figuring out all of what she had said to him the night before. But maybe Harry wasn't the best person to ask for help, he could be a bit of a dolt when it comes to girls. Mostly though, Ron wasn't sure he was comfortable sharing his feelings with Harry, especially when it came to Hermione.

Breakfast that Sunday morning was a rush. Students were quick to eat and get their things packed for the holiday break. As Ron and Harry entered the Great Hall they saw Hermione making her way out, "Oi, Hermione! Did you finish breakfast?" Harry asked. "She looked up, "Oh, yes I've just finished. But I will sit with you for a bit if you don't mind?" She looked at Ron timidly, "We don't mind!" he said with a smile. Harry gave him an odd look. "Ok, great!" she said making her way back toward their usual spots. As the three sat down together, Harry noticed a remarkable difference in the air-the tension was somewhat lifted. But he was not sure if he should remark on it just yet. "Hermione are you going skiing with your parents this year for Christmas?" asked Harry. "Not that I know of." she said, "but they did say they have a surprise for me. And I have something I need to do for my parents over the holidays." she added absently. Before could ask her what that was, Harry noticed a blur of blonde curls plot on the seat next to Ron. "Good morning!" she nudged herself closer in to Ron and put her hands around his waist. "I'm going to miss you over the break!" she said to him with a giggle. Ron tried to look straight ahead and keep eating. Hermione looked on the two of them, Ron noticed, trying to remain a pleasant smile on her face, "Lavender, um… I hope you have a good Christmas break." and with that she stood up, "See you two on the train, I want to give you your Christmas presents." What that she walked off smiling at both Ron and Harry. Lavender looked at Ron, "Oh so you're friends with her again? When did that happen?" As Harry stood to leave, Ron pleading desperately with his eyes for him to stay, Harry heard Ron say, "yeah, we're friends again, we worked it out sort of ..."

Later on the train, Ron told Harry that he and Lavender had a somewhat heated row about his friendship with Hermione. "Did you break it off with her?" he asked Ron. "Well, I tried but she kind of refused." Harry looked at Ron quizzically and Ron just shrugged. "Oh, ok then." Harry said flatly. After a long silence with Ron looking out the window and Harry catching up on the _Daily Prophet_, Hermione appeared in the cabin with an excited look on her face. "I've just been chatting with Dean and he says we are to have our Apparition tests in the spring!" Harry and Ron both responded "Really?!" The three chatted excitedly about the testing process and what it would be like to have the freedom to apparate. Harry again noticed how the tension between the two of them was just…gone. It was like they were back to their usual selves-only with less bickering. Harry liked it.

"Well, I wanted to give you both your Christmas gifts on the train if that is ok?" Hermione asked. "When have we ever said no to gifts?" replied Harry. Ron chuckled and Hermione gave them both an exasperated look. She reached into her bag and pulled out two envelopes. "Here-" she said with a wide smile and wide eyes. They gave each other a confused look and opened the envelopes. "Tickets for the Canons!" exclaimed Ron, "on Boxing Day…that is the biggest match of their season!" he cried. Harry looked happy and speechless. "I hope you can both go." she said hopefully. "Of course we'll go!" Ron had never been to see his favorite quidditch team play and this was just about the best gift he had ever received. He suddenly felt his heart sink as he realized that he did not buy Hermione a gift this year, they had been fighting so much he just figured… anyway he usually left all gift buying to the last minute. He hoped she would just think he hadn't decided to give it to her yet, it was only Sunday and Christmas was still four days away. Hopefully Harry had forgotten also. "Oh, uh, Hermione…" started Harry, "I have something really great for you too…I will make sure it gets to your house for Christmas." She laughed and replied. "Ok, ok, I know you both probably have something really great for me! I can't wait to see what it is!" she said sarcastically. Harry and Ron gave each other a slightly panicked look. "So, uh, you're coming with us aren't you?" Ron asked softly looking her in the eyes. "Oh, well, uh…no. I can't go I have something I have to do for my parents." she blushed and looked away. This was the first direct eye contact they had made since last night-the reminder made Ron blush as well. "Yea, you said that before, what is it you have to do for them?" asked Harry. At this she quickly answered, "Oh, it's nothing really, something I promised them I would do over the holidays." she said vaguely. Neither of the boys sensed she wanted to elaborate so they left it at that. Just then, Lavender appeared at the door, red-faced and glaring at Hermione. Hermione made a quick decision then to exit, "Ok, then, I told Ginny I would be right back, she wants to talk to me." and with that she left. Lavender glared after her and entered the compartment, taking a seat next to Ron. "Well, I am just going to go check in with Neville, I told him I would…uh…help him…do something." said Harry. Ron had a pained look on his face as Harry walked away. He sat quietly as Lavender apologized for her anger before and cried about how much she would miss him over the holiday. He felt guilty that his only thoughts during her rant were about Hermione-how she gave them tickets to Ron's favorite team and how lovely she looked today and what could he possibly give her that would equal the ticket? "Ron, Ron…I asked you a question!" Lavender cried, "What?" he asked. "What did you get me for Christmas? I got you something very special!" she said coyly.

Bloody hell, he was supposed to buy Lavender a present?

Later at the Burrow, Harry and Ron were unpacking their things in Ron's room. "So what _did_ you get Hermione for Christmas Harry?" Ron asked cautiously. "Well, nothing yet, I was hoping we would get a chance to get something for her before Christmas though!" Ron replied, "Yea, me too." Harry went on, "And we best get her something really great given that she gave us the tickets." "Yea the tickets, that was really something." Ron said. He was still amazed at the thoughtfulness of her gift. "So maybe we can ask your mom to let us floo to Diagon Alley in the morning and find a gift?" Harry asked, "Oh yea, sounds like a plan!" said Ron. Just then Molly entered the room, "So happy to have you boys home but I do have some news!" she cried. "Hermione's parents have invited you both to her house for Tuesday and Tuesday night for some kind of surprise." The boys looked at each other, "What surprise?" asked Harry. "Not sure dear, something to do with Hermione I know. Did she mention anything to you both?"

"Well, she said her parents had a surprise for her, and that she had something to do for her parents." Harry responded. "That's all?" asked Molly. Harry nodded. "Well, not much to go on, but it will be a good time I'm sure. Now listen, you two had best behave yourselves and be respectful. Oh, Ron your father is going to be beside himself asking you take note of all the Muggle workings…be prepared dear!" With that she left the room and Harry and Ron were left to ponder the turn of events.

"What surprise?" Ron asked Harry. "Did she say anything to you that week she wasn't speaking to me?" Harry thought back, "Uh, no but she was not around too much. I reckon she just stayed in the library as usual. But when I went to find her a few times she wasn't there. That was odd." Harry pulled out his Advanced Potions book and plopped on the bed to read. Ron felt uneasy and nervous at the prospect of spending the night at Hermione's house. "What do you reckon her house is like?" he asked Harry. Harry looked up, "Oh, I don't know, probably normal."

"Yea but what's Muggle normal?" asked Ron. Harry just realized what Ron meant. He realized that Ron had never spent so much time in the Muggle world-let alone in a Muggle house for the night. Of course he was feeling nervous and Harry knew that one of Ron's biggest fears was looking stupid in front of others. He imagined looking stupid in front of Hermione's parents was one of the worst things that could happen to Ron. "Don't worry mate, you'll be fine." he assured Ron.

The next day the two spent their morning in Diagon Alley doing their Christmas shopping. Harry found Hermione a great book on unicorn legends that he knew she would enjoy. Ron was secretly happy that Harry chose a book for her, this would give him a chance to give her something more unique. "I think I want to buy her something really great Harry, something that kind of makes up for me such a prat over the past few weeks." Harry looked at his friend and proceeded words with caution, "Well, whatever you get her, just make sure you get Lavender something better!" Ron's face fell and he stopped in his tracks, realizing this was the first time he remembered even having a girlfriend since they left the train from Hogwarts. "Yea, listen Harry, about Lavender…I think I might try breaking it off with her again over the break. Do you think it would be wrong to do it in a letter?" Harry didn't know much about girls, but he felt pretty sure that breaking it off in a letter did not sound like a good plan. "I don't know Ron, sounds kind of…I don't know…not very straightforward." To this, Ron sighed and decided that he didn't have to make the decision right now. He and Harry then decided to separate for a while so Ron could concentrate on a gift for Hermione. Harry decided to spend some time in the Leaky Cauldron, where he caught up with Hagrid for a bit. An hour later, Ron arrived at the Leaky Cauldron with a huge smile on his face. "Well, success?" asked Harry. "Oh, yea." said Ron confidently. "Well, let's see it mate!" Harry prodded. Ron blushed slightly, "Uh, well maybe not right now Harry, maybe later." he said looking around the pub hesitantly. "Ok then, and how about for Lavender…? "asked Harry. "Oh, well, I don't have to worry about that right now." Ron replied. "If you say so." Harry chimed.

On Tuesday, mid-afternoon, the boys packed an overnight bag to bring to Hermione's for the night. "I don't know what this surprise business is all about." said Harry in a frustrating tone, "Why can't they just tell us what the surprise is, if it is a surprise for Hermione, why can't they tell us?"

"Well, maybe they think we'll spoil the surprise for her?" Ron replied. He wasn't as annoyed about the unknown adventure that was ahead. He was excited. He was happy to see his friend again and intrigued at the thought of spending time in her home. After the Slughorn Christmas party incident, he felt a new sense of interest in his relationship with Hermione. It had been there for some time now, probably since fourth year, but the incident on the marble staircase just escalated his thoughts on the subject. It was a feeling that he didn't feel completely comfortable sharing with Harry. He also wasn't sure he wanted to show Harry the gift he bought for Hermione and was glad that Harry seemed to have forgotten to mention it again. If he did ask, Ron would try a diversion.

"Let's go you two-you are to meet daddy at King's Cross and he will see you off with Mr. Granger. You will need to take the floo to Poddy's Pub near the station. I want you to bring Hermione's Christmas gift as well!" Ron's mom had knitted her a classic Weasley jumper, Hermione seemed hurt last Christmas when she was the only one without a magic-knitted jumper and Mrs. Weasley made note to have one for her this Christmas.

"Ok, off now with you-see you tomorrow for lunch-have fun and mind yourselves!" she shooed them up the floo.

An hour later the Harry and Ron were walking quickly through the car parking lot at King's Cross Station with Mr. Granger. "Good to see you boys! You're both looking well. Hermione said you both are getting along well in school-that is great to know. We are happy you could make the visit with us. Mrs. Granger and I had discussed whether or not it would be wise to invite you both. I know Hermione probably hasn't mentioned anything to you about the event. She wasn't very excited about participating when her mother asked her last summer because she thought the practice would interfere with her studies. Always thinking logically-that girl! Anyway, she has worked hard and is really doing this to please her mother-but she is something to see and I do believe we made the right decision to invite you both-you are her best friends after all!" He spoke to them quickly and as they slid into the back seat of the Granger's car, they both were still very uncertain about all that he said. "Sorry…Mr. Granger, what event?" Harry asked. "So she hasn't mentioned anything at all to you? About the ballet?" Mr. Granger turned to look back at them from the front seat. "Ballet?" they both spoke at the same time. "Yes, Hermione is performing in the Nutcracker ballet tonight and tomorrow night. Her mother teaches ballet and has wanted her to do this for…well…forever really. Until she went to Hogwarts, Hermione studied ballet with her mother daily, but then she sort of lost interest in it once she began to learn about the magic world. Her mother had her do some summer intensives, hoping she would keep up the art, and she did to the best of her ability. Hermione promised her mother that she would perform in the ballet this Christmas and so here we are!" Harry and Ron were speechless. "Hermione is a ballerina?" Ron asked with a look of confusion on his face. "Well, I guess you could say that!" said Mr. Granger laughing. "But when did she practice? Don't you have to practice to be part of a whole ballet?" asked Harry. Mr. Granger responded, "Well, yes, but she did. She told us that your headmistress allowed her to use a room to practice at the school whenever she wanted. She has been cast in three parts that didn't necessitate her rehearsing with others too much and well, you know Hermione, it doesn't take much for her to master anything really."

Harry and Ron looked at each other-this was true. "So we will see her dancing tonight…on a stage?" asked Ron. "Yes, but I had planned to take the two of you to get a bite during the first act and we can slip in during intermission, she only has parts in the second act. This way we don't sit through the whole ordeal-it is a bit boring to be honest!" Harry and Ron chuckled and gave each other a knowing look – they liked Hermione's father. They stopped on the way to the concert hall for fish & chips. Harry and Ron enjoyed some good conversation with Mr. Granger about their interests-they talked with him about Quidditch extensively, which Mr. Granger knew quite a bit about. "Hermione has explained it to me and it sounds very interesting-I would love to see a match!" he cried. Ron was surprised to hear that Hermione had tried to explain Quidditch to her dad-he thought she disliked it immensely. The thought that she wanted to share this particular part of their world with her dad made him smile. While Mr. Granger slipped into the bathroom for a moment, Ron looked at Harry and exclaimed, "Blimey why didn't she tell us about this ballet thing?" Harry shook his head, "Don't know, maybe she thought we would tease her?"

"Yea, maybe, but this is just so … not like her!" Ron said.

"Well, sounds like she just wanted to do this for her mother so her mother would stop bothering her about it?" said Harry.

"Yea, maybe…" said Ron. "I've never been to ballet."

"Me either…and when did she practice? Maybe that was where she was all those times I couldn't find her?" Harry asked.

"Most likely. And McGonagall _would _give her special permission to use a whole room to practice, especially if she explained about her mom and all." Ron added. "Yea definitely." Harry replied.

When Mr. Granger returned he payed the check and they went back out to the street to walk the four blocks to the concert hall. Ron felt a certain excitement about being in the Muggle world-he was glad he wore a shirt with a collar, he did so on purpose, knowing he would meet Hermione's dad. There was no denying he would like for her dad to like him. Harry was sure to be liked, he was just…well…Harry.

They entered the concert hall's main entrance which was flooded with people taking intermission. Mr. Granger herded them through the crowds into the hall and they walked down a long aisle to take their seats near the middle of the seating area. It was a large hall and the stage was large as well. Immediately, Mrs. Granger appeared on the aisle to greet them, "Hello Harry and Ron! So good of you to come!" She bent down to kiss them both on the cheek. Mrs. Granger was helping with the production back stage so she wasn't sitting in the audience with them. "Hermione will be so surprised that you came!" she cried. "I know she hasn't likely shared much of her dance experience with you but she is really quite a good dancer." Harry leaned over to Ron when Mrs. Granger left to ask him, "What if Hermione doesn't want us to see this-to see her dance I mean? What if she just wanted to keep it to herself?" Ron hadn't thought of that but it did seem like a possibility. He just shrugged at Harry as the lights went dark in the hall, the music began, and the curtains raised…

"That's her I think!" whispered Harry, "I mean I am not quite sure it doesn't really look like her does it?" Ron was sure it was her. She did look different, she was wearing make-up for starters, but they had never seen Hermione with clothes that fit so…tight. Her figure was not the same, she looked smaller and more exact. Her movements were also very exact. Her posture was noticeably straighter, perhaps because a bag full of books were not heaved over her shoulder. Ron was quite in awe of her. She danced with two other girls during this number and the three moved in sync, with Hermione front. Mr. Granger leaned over Ron's lap and whispered to both, "Isn't she something?" he said with an air of pride.  
"Yea…something." Ron said dreamily.

"She's brilliant." Harry said. "Beyond brilliant."

Hermione danced in three numbers, one of which she did alone as the Sugarplum Fairy, to which she received applause at the end of that particular number. As much as they enjoyed watching their friend in the performance, in the end, Harry and Ron were glad that Mr. Granger had them skip the first act if she was not in it. Ron felt himself feeling a bit disappointed as the final dance came to an end, he enjoyed watching her perform and there was something more exciting about it knowing that she was unaware of their presence. He wondered if their presence would have made her nervous. She was perfection on stage and when she came forward to take her bow, he and Harry hooted and whistled as loud as they could. She beamed. Mr. Granger suggested that they take leave and try to catch her backstage and the boys followed him through the crowd.

The backstage area was full of dancers receiving hugs and accolades. There were quite a bit of roses as well. Hermione stood against a wall smiling and speaking with another dancer and the girl's parents. Harry called out to her, "Oi! Hermione" he waved over the crowd to her. She looked up and her face went completely blank and confused-and then she broke into a huge smile. "Harry! Ron! What are you doing here!?" she exclaimed. As they approached her she began to turn red, "What…how did you know…what are you doing here?" she asked again. Ron knew that she was surprised but he didn't think she would, or should, feel embarrassed, but this is clearly the emotion she felt. Her mother quickly appeared at her side and said, "Daddy and I invited them dear, we wrote to Ron's mother to ask if they could come see your performance since this is the one and only-so you have told me!" her mother said stiffly. Hermione gave her mother a cross look but then turned back to Harry and Ron with a smile. "Well, I'm glad you came. What did you think Harry?" she asked tentatively. "You were brilliant! Better than, actually!" she smiled at Harry's praise. "And Ron, what about you?" she looked at him with apprehension and he was completely speechless. _She has to be one of the loveliest creatures on earth_-he thought to himself. He finally found a way to make some sound come forth from his mouth, "You are amazing, you are." he said deeply and with certainty. She gave him a quizzical look but then broke into a wide smile for him. They maintained eye contact (the same eye contact they held on the marble stairs the night of Slughorn's party) for a few seconds until a voice came calling out over their heads, "HERMIONE! HERMIONE!" it was a loud and strong male voice and the boys turned to see a tall, young man making his way toward them holding a bouquet of roses above his head. "Patrick!" Hermione cried and jumped into his arms as approached. He picked her up and twirled her around, "Look at you! You are so beautiful! And you were amazing up there!" he cried taking her in at arms-length. "Here, these are for you!" he gave her the large bouquet of pink roses. "Thank you Patrick!" She handed the roses to her mom and then guided Patrick over to Harry and Ron, "Patrick I would like for you to meet my two best friends at school, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. Harry and Ron, this is my good friend Patrick. Patrick lived next door to us when we were younger, we kind of grew up together until I went away to school." She smiled at Patrick as he reached out to shake both of the boy's hands. "Good to meet you both-I have heard a lot about you!" Patrick said. Ron noted that Patrick was what girls would consider a winning combination: tall, dark, and handsome. He was also at least a year or two older than them. Ron felt a rush of jealousy as he saw Patrick maintain his grip on Hermione's hand and felt himself sink even lower when he saw Hermione retrieve the roses from her mother and look on at Patrick with gratitude. "Think her dad might have told us to bring flowers." Ron said quietly and bitterly to Harry. Harry agreed, "Yea, he might have." Just then Ron heard Hermione's mother ask Patrick, "Will we see you then, on Christmas Eve Patrick?" Hermione looked at him anxiously, "Yes please come!" He smiled and said, "I think so, I need to visit my Aunt Margaret first but then I will come by if that is okay-we have a lot to catch up on!" he said to Hermione. "Great!" she exclaimed. He turned to Harry and Ron, "Very nice to meet you both-take care of my girl at school will you?" he poked Hermione in the arm, she laughed and then he was off.

"Patrick has wanted to meet you two for ages!" Hermione told them, "I didn't think he was going to make it tonight." Ron was feeling heat rise in his chest at what he had just witnessed and Harry could sense some tension building from Ron, "Well he seems like a nice fella." said Harry and she smiled. Then Ron asked her, coldly, "If he knows so much about us, how come we don't anything about him?" She turned slightly pink and answered, "Oh, well, he just was a childhood friend from before Hogwarts so I didn't think to mention him too much." With that, Harry hoped that Ron would let it go.

In the car ride home Ron kept quiet, looking out the window, Hermione seemed nervous and chatted about the performance with Harry. She sat between the two boys in the backseat and Ron noted under other circumstances this would have been one of the highlights of his young life, riding in a Muggle car with his knee touching Hermione's knee. Harry sensed a row coming on about Patrick between Ron and Hermione-he knew his best mate well and Ron had difficulty managing his jealousy when it came to Hermione. Harry thought it best to keep her talking about dancing. They learned that it was indeed Professor McGonagall who gave her permission not only to turn an unused classroom into a ballet studio but to sit out arithmancy for one term so she could practice during that time each day. "I didn't tell you both about it because I just wasn't sure I wanted everyone to know about, you know, the special treatment and all." Mrs. Granger then brought up the subject of Patrick to Harry's dismay, "Patrick looked wonderful didn't he dear-so handsome!" Hermione glanced at Ron's face, which winced at Mrs. Granger's words but remained staring out the window. "Oh, yea I suppose he looked well." she responded dismissively. Mr. Granger spoke up then, "Yes he looked fabulous indeed! He didn't try to sneak a peek at your bum did he Harry? Ron?" he said laughing. 'DADDY!" cried Hermione in disbelief. "Wwwhaat?" Harry asked quietly. This brought Ron's face away from the window. "Edward don't be an ignoramus." Mrs. Granger said with reproach. He continued to laugh, "Oh, Jean, you know I'm only teasing. He's a good lad." Harry leaned over to Hermione, "Sorry I don't understand…"

"He's a poof." Mr. Granger chirped.

"DADDY! MUM PLEASE!" Hermione squealed.

"Edward, honestly!" Mrs. Granger exclaimed, she sounded just like Hermione when she was exasperated with Ron or Harry.

"Uh, what's a poof?" Ron quietly asked Hermione.

She took a small but deep breath, "It means, Patrick fancies boys, not girls." she told him in her Hermione matter-of-fact voice.

Ron took a few seconds to register and then chuckled, "Oh, understood." he said. He felt suddenly much lighter.

"Ah, but he's a good lad boys-no need to fear for yourselves." Mr. Granger said lightly.

"Mum make him stop!" cried Hermione. Harry and Ron were containing laughs.

"Doesn't he have a boyfriend Hermione? I thought he was seeing a lad from the University?" her mother asked.

"Boys, he and Hermione were a great pair when they were little." laughed Mr. Granger. Hermione put her head in her hands. "Always together those two. I thought it was a sure thing – you know, young love, destined to be. But then one day I came upstairs to bring them down for lunch and there's Hermione in the hallway, levitating her school books, and Patrick in her room trying on all her jumpers-knickers too! Alas, it was not meant to be" he said dramatically." Hermione was flushed beyond belief but she herself was giggling under her breath. "Daddy don't be an idiot-please!" she begged. Ron and Harry were in hysterics by now, Ron holding his side and Harry clinging to the car door handle.

"Well, he is a good friend and he's always been there for Hermione, hasn't he dear?" her mother asked, coming to her rescue.

"Yes he has." She replied.

Ron felt himself relax a little. He hated the part of himself that instantly became a prat about Patrick. It was the same part that became a prat about Viktor Krum and Cormac (bloody Cormac who he still wanted to kill). He then started to enjoy the remainder of the car ride back to Hermione's house. He knew one thing for sure, he really liked her dad.

An hour later the five of them were sitting in the Granger's living room, a cozy room with a fire blazing, having Chinese food that the Grangers had delivered. Although Harry and Ron had eaten with Mr. Granger before the show, they were happy to eat again. "Boys could eat non-stop I do believe." declared Hermione. "How do you like the Chinese food Harry and Ron?" her mother asked them. "It's great!" Ron replied. He meant it. This is something his father would want to know about. Harry agreed. Hermione and her mother began to clean up as they finished and Mr. Granger asked the boys to follow him to the den. "Well it's not really a "den", it's my escape! Bring your bags boys." he said as he slipped out of the room under the glare of his wife. In the den, Mr. Granger wanted to show Harry and Ron where they could sleep. "There are two sleeping bags here for you both and you can camp in here for the night." Back in the living room, Mr. and Mrs. Granger bid goodnight to the trio. "You shouldn't stay up too late Hermione; we need to be at the studio at 9am for rehearsal for tomorrow night's performance. You need to work on your form with Julie and Alex."

"Ok, mum." Hermione responded sullenly.

Mr. Granger bent over to give his daughter a kiss, "You were superb darling, absolutely excellent" he said quietly. She blushed, "Thank you Daddy." He winked at Harry and Ron "Good night fellas!"

"Good night sir!" said Ron and Harry in unison.

"He's right you know, your dad. You were fantastic there tonight." Harry said earnestly.

"Thank you Harry." she replied. Ron felt as if he should say something equally flattering, but felt like Harry stole that moment away. He wondered at what point he would have Hermione alone and could give her his Christmas gift. Hermione made tea and the three of them sat together for another hour-talking and laughing. Finally, Harry asked Hermione, "Would it be okay if I took a shower before bed Hermione?"

"Of course." she replied. "There's a bathroom off the den you can use that one." She stood to bring the mugs to the kitchen sink, leaving Ron sitting by the fire on his own. _This is the chance_, he thought. He walked with Harry to the den, "Just need to grab something from my bag Harry." Harry sensed that Ron wanted to give Hermione her gift in private. In fact, he made it a point to avoid asking Ron about it since Ron seemed unlikely to willingly share. Harry had resigned the fact that his best mate was in love with his other best (girl) mate. He decided that Ron needed to come to this realization in his own time and knew that there would be times when it was awkward and inconvenient, but he accepted it. Hermione was like a sister to Harry, and he wanted her to be happy as well. It was all very discreetly complicated!

Ron entered the kitchen to see Hermione standing at the sink, rinsing the tea mugs. He gathered enough courage to say something flattering, "I think your form is perfect." he said sweetly. "Excuse me?" she asked turning, somewhat startled by his sudden presence and in the doorway. "Your form… your mum said you needed to work on your form, but I think it looks perfect." They were both blushing now; Ron's ears were bright red. "Thank you Ron." was all she could muster. She began to walk over to him, "I'm glad you both came tonight. I hope it wasn't too boring for you. I supposed that's another reason why I kept it from you, because I thought _you_ thought it would be boring. I'm already such a bore." she laughed sadly. By this time she was standing close enough to see he had something behind his back. "You're not a bore!" he retorted, "Who said that to you?" he asked angrily. She laughed out loud, "No one said that you maniac! I said it about myself!"

"Well, you're not a bore, you shouldn't have said that about yourself." he said, slightly embarrassed of himself.

"What is that behind your back?" she asked curiously.

"Oh, well, it's your Christmas present." his ears were on fire now. "Here, I hope you like it." He handed her a small red box with a purple ribbon and bow.

"Well, it certainly is nicely wrapped!" she said excitedly. She carefully removed the ribbon and bow and then pulled the top from the box.

"Ohhhh Ron…" she said pulling a simple silver bracelet from the box. The bracelet had a medium sized blue gemstone embedded in the links. He was flooded with relief at the realization that she actually liked the gift. He felt bold. "The stone is a sapphire. Well, not a real one because that would be like a thousand galleons, but it is a really good fake one." He told her, taking the bracelet from her and unlatching the clasp so he could put it around her wrist. "Sapphire is named after the god Saturn, and sapphire means 'dear'…to Saturn that is" he explained as he clasped the bracelet around her wrist. She looked at it in wonder. He watched her expression and knew this was the best decision he had ever made in his life. "Do you like it then?" he asked her. She looked at him again with the intensity they had shared before, "I love it. It is by far the best gift anyone has ever given me!" He smiled with pride and knew that she meant it. "Oh and all I gave you was the cruddy Quidditch ticket!" she cried. "What are you saying?" Ron replied, "That was the best gift I've ever received!" and she smiled, knowing that he meant it. A few quiet seconds passed, "You dancing tonight, that was really something." Ron said to her a serious tone.

"I'm glad you liked it." she replied, blushing. "To tell you the truth, I do enjoy it. But don't tell my mum that!" she laughed. They stood there together for a good five seconds before Hermione realized something, "Uh, Ron, don't look up."

"Why not?" he asked.

"Well, because we are kind of uh…standing under mum's mistletoe." she said faintly.

He looked up. Blimey she was right! His confidence was not to be trampled in this moment. "Well, I guess we should not break tradition." he said leaning in closer to her. "Yea, we probably shouldn't." she leaned in as well. They let their lips meet in a sweet and chaste kiss. But then Ron reached out, taking her arm and pulled her whole body in closer for a deeper kiss. She responded warmly and moved her hands up to run through his hair while his hands dropped and wrapped around her waist. Ron felt as if he would melt right into the floor. She was an incredible kisser. Not too aggressive, not too timid, or wild or tame, just…perfect. She started to pull back though Ron's grip on her waist was reluctant to release her. Finally, he let go and she took a step back, clasped her hands over her mouth. "Oh Ron, I'm so sorry!" she cried in a whispered voice. He was still a little shaky from the kiss. "Huh? Sorry? Sorry for what?" he asked, utterly confused. "For kissing you like that!" she said again whispering frantically. "You have a _girlfriend_!" she cried. It was true-he did. The reality came crashing down on him. He wanted to say, "So?" but instead he stood there and felt his mouth go really dry. "I am really sorry Ron! I don't want to be…you know…the _other _woman! No one deserves that, not even Lavender! Maybe Rita Skeeter was right! Maybe I am a _scarlet_ woman!" she cried. Ron continued to be dry-mouthed and silent. He honestly just wanted more kissing with her, but he could see that she was really upset with herself. He didn't know what to say to make her feel better, he was quite dazed, but he tried, "You're a really good kisser." was what came out. She gave him a slow, weary smile. She knew this was his effort to make her feel better. She was quiet for a few seconds and then, "Thank you so much for the bracelet Ron. I really do love it." She said as she reached down to her wrist and ran her fingers over the bracelet, "Well, I am pretty tired, I'm going to head up to bed now. Say goodnight to Harry for me?"

"Sure." he nodded. And she was gone.

He stood in the kitchen alone for a good three minutes reflecting on the whole event. _She initiated it by alerting me to the mistletoe! Did she forget I had a girlfriend? Why do I have a bloody girlfriend?!_ Thoughts raced through his mind and then he just settled in on the moment when they were kissing and she was running her hands through his hair, which felt incredible. He decided right then and there that as long as he lived, there would not likely be another moment that felt quite that brilliant. "Why are you standing in the kitchen?" Ron was brought back to reality by Harry. "Oh, uh, just getting a drink of water." he lied. "Where's Hermione?" Harry asked. "Off to bed, said she was tired." Ron told him as he filled a glass with water from the sink. He seemed a little boggled to Harry. "You alright mate?" Ron took a long drink of water and then turned to Harry with a very wide smile. "Yea, I'm great."

Hermione lay in bed with her heart beating out of her chest. _What did I do? Ron has a girlfriend!_ She felt a mixture of guilt and excitement. He kissed her back. He didn't want her to pull away. _That means something right?_ But then she kept going back to the fact that he did, indeed, have a girlfriend. She felt overwhelmed by the bracelet. It was such a thoughtful gift and he was just so adorable and excited about giving it to her. She knew that things had changed between them the night of Slughorn's party, but tonight's events really changed things. There was no way she was going to be able to sleep tonight, and she knew she had to get up for rehearsal in the morning. As she started counting sheep she began to let so many questions enter her mind, the last question she remembered pondering: _I wonder what he gave Lavender for Christmas? _


	3. Part 3

The next morning Harry and Ron woke to loud music coming from the Granger's kitchen. After getting dressed, they found Mr. Granger in the kitchen cooking breakfast, enjoying his music. He noticed them after a few seconds, "Oh good morning boys! Hungry? Hermione and her mum are already off to their rehearsal this morning. I wanted to get some breakfast ready for you!" he shouted over the music. He then walked over to turn down the volume, "Sorry about that! The Mrs. doesn't let me listen to Led Zeppelin that loud when she is home-got to take advantage when she's out!"

"No problem." said Harry smiling. They were instructed to sit and Mr. Granger served them a nice breakfast of eggs, bacon and toast. "We are to meet the girls for brunch around 11am before you head back to Ron's house but I was sure you would be hungry first thing. Eat up!" Ron felt some kind of awkwardness sitting in the kitchen with Mr. Granger, the same kitchen where he had that brilliant kiss Hermione last night. He looked up at the mistletoe and had to smile to himself.

"Listen, Harry and Ron, there is something I want to talk to you both about." Mr. Granger's happy face suddenly turned serious as he spoke. Harry and Ron gave each other a quick, nervous glance. He continued, "I know that there are things happening in the magic world that are concerning. Hermione hasn't told her mother much, her mother has a tendency to overreact at times, but she has confided in me a little about some of the concerns. Last summer we did ask her to not return to Hogwarts, well we begged and then tried to demand that she not return actually, and she absolutely refused. She and her mother had a very big row-I believe she felt that doing this ballet would help make it up to her mother. Anyway, she told me that she would rather die than not return to Hogwarts, it was her home, and that the two of you meant more to her than anything in the world, tried not to take that to heart." He looked up at Harry and Ron, who had stopped eating; they simply stared ahead with blank faces. "So I guess what I am saying is, well, I'm asking if you two can, just watch over her ok? Take care of her and make sure she stays safe. Don't let her get hurt. I wouldn't be able to handle that you know…she's quite a capable young woman, you know that yourselves, but I'm her daddy and she is still my little girl…" his words trailed off with a cracked voice, tears clearly forming in his eyes. Harry and Ron were quiet and felt a bit awkward witnessing Mr. Granger's emotional side. Ron felt a strong sense of nobility, a wave of courage swelled within him and he spoke, "I will take care of her sir. I promise. " Harry looked up – _did Ron just say "I"_? Harry then added, "Uh, yes sir, we both will." Harry and Ron exchanged an awkward look. Mr. Granger looked up then and met both of their eyes one at a time, "Good men." he said with a quick nod, clapped his hands together, stood up, and started to clean his breakfast plate. Harry and Ron sat quietly, not eating, until he turned around and said to them, "Eat up then! I want to show you my music collection. Did Hermione tell you that I used to be in a band?"

Later, after a couple of hours enjoying Mr. Granger's music collection, Harry and Ron were led by Mr. Granger up the steps of Hermione's ballet studio. They had immensely enjoyed their time with her dad and his music. He was definitely passionate about his music. They learned all about his favorites, the Beatles to start, the Rolling Stones, and of course Led Zeppelin. Ron especially enjoyed himself, he had heard some of this music when Charlie lived at home, Charlie was keen on Muggle music. But he had been too young to appreciate it then. Mr. Granger had made Ron a few CDs with a mix of music and also gave him a portable CD player with headphones. Ron knew his father would be intrigued.

As they approached the studio rehearsal room Mr. Granger halted them in front of a large window facing into the room. Ron saw Hermione looking straight toward them as she focused with intensity on what looked like a complicated step. He smiled and waved at her but she didn't acknowledge their presence. Harry noticed his disappointment and whispered, "It's a two-way mirror mate, we can see her but she only sees her own reflection." Ron blushed, "Oh, right." They stood for another moment watching Hermione and two other girls repeat one section of the dance twice. Her mother then came down the hall, "Hello fellas." she said. She looked stressed. "Hello Mrs. Granger." Harry and Ron both greeted Hermione's mother. "What did my husband have you up to this morning?" He gave the boys a cautionary look, "Oh, just man stuff Jean, you know." She laughed lightly, "Oh I know, piddling around in the den with your music I'm sure. He couldn't wait to have you both come so he could show off his music collection with someone other than me and his poor daughter. Good thing she tolerates your obsession better than me Edward." She walked back into the rehearsal room to chat with another group of dancers. Just then Hermione walked right up to the mirror and was face to face with Ron, she raised both arms into a wide circle and pulled her weight up onto her right tiptoe, with her left foot tucked behind her right knee, she then used her strength to whirl her body around into three tight spins. She finished with a solid halt and looking straight into the mirror, she came closer, squinted her eyes, smiled and stuck out her tongue. She could make out the outline of Ron's head, just barely. He laughed to himself, happy to see her in a playful mood. A second later she was standing in the hall with her arms around her father. "Did you let them sleep in daddy?" she asked. "Well, not really." he answered. "But I made them a good breakfast."

"Breakfast! But we were going to have brunch before they head back to the Burrow!" cried Hermione. "Please daddy I have to get out of here for a little bit, mum is making me crazy!" she added quietly. "Oh we can eat again!" Ron said with enthusiasm. Hermione looked over to Ron and felt flushed at the sight of him. "See honey, Ron can eat again-Harry too I'm sure of it." Harry grinned and nodded. "Ok then let me just change quickly and get mum." She ran back into the studio and was back out in less than three minutes. "Mum says go without her, she needs to stay here and help the gingersnaps. " Mrs. Granger then poked her head back out of the studio to say "Goodbye Harry and Ron, so glad you could make it, have a Happy Christmas! Hermione, nothing heavy or fried dear, stick to just a fruit plate." Hermione looked at Harry and Ron apologetically. Mr. Granger put his arms around her shoulder, "Where should we go my lovely?" Harry couldn't help but glance over at Ron and smile at this gesture.

Ron was thinking just then about Mr. Granger's words this morning at breakfast and how nice it was to see that Hermione had a father who really seemed to love her very much. He reckoned this is why she was able to tolerate her mother most of the time. Not that he didn't like Mrs. Granger, but she seemed a bit…well fussy. His own mother was fussy, but in a different sort of way. Mrs. Granger clearly expected perfection and he could see why Hermione herself was so obsessed with being perfect at everything. He made a silent vow to be less annoyed with her perfectness.

"Claude's?" Hermione suggested to her father. "Claude's it is!" he replied happily.

"You'll like it, you both will." She said excitedly, "It's a French café-type place and they have really excellent crepes and an amazing waffle bar!"

At the restaurant, Harry and Ron had loads of fun with the waffle bar. They piled waffles high with strawberries, blueberries, and whipped cream. "We should request waffle bar at the castle for Sunday breakfast!" Ron declared, to which Hermione caught a ridiculous laughing fit. Harry and Ron quickly turned the experience into a competitive eating contest that didn't help Hermione's laughing subside. Mr. Granger enjoyed spending time with his daughter and her friends; he felt content in seeing his daughter so happy and relaxed with these two. While Hermione did obey her mother by sticking only to the fruit plate, Ron was able to coax her into one oversized bite of waffle concoction that he actually offered from his own plate. They both turned bright red as he fed her the bite and then wiped the escaping blob of whipped cream from her cheek with his finger. Luckily, Harry had engaged Mr. Granger in a discussion about his Firebolt so neither of them noticed the waffle moment. Hermione was pleasantly surprised at how at ease Ron seemed with her given their intense interaction the night before, and the kiss. She wondered if he too lay awake nearly all night thinking about their kiss and what it meant. She knew she would unlikely get a chance to talk to him alone this morning before he and Harry returned to the Burrow so she finally decided (around 1am) to write him a letter as a follow-up to their kiss. She planned to give it to him in the form of a Christmas card. She had a card for Harry as well so be sure it was all very discreet.

In the parking lot at King's Cross Station, Harry remembered to give Hermione her Christmas gift, "Unicorn Legends, thanks Harry!" she smiled and glanced at Ron, who looked victorious. Then the boys said goodbye to Hermione and Mr. Granger. "So glad to have you both, please come anytime, open invitation-I'll have you listen to my Clash records!"

In the pub, Ron stopped Harry and said, "Harry, wait, I need to hit the bathroom before we go."

"Oh, sure." said Harry as his eyes scanned the empty tables for a copy of the _Daily Prophet_. Once alone in the bathroom, Ron pulled out the card from Hermione, he wasn't sure what he expected, but he felt he needed to read it:

_Dear Ron, _

_I can't tell you how much I love the gift you gave me. Did you know that blue is my favorite color? I don't think I ever told you that. I hope you and Harry have fun at the Canons match. Maybe someday you can take my dad-he keeps saying he would love to see a Quidditch match! I'm afraid I would not be so good at explaining it to him, you would be much better at that. _

_Well, I'll get right to it-our kiss. I can't stop thinking about it. Can you? It is important though for me to know that you know that I still respect your relationship with Lavender-even if my actions haven't showed it. I told you the night of Slughorn's party that I can accept that you have a girlfriend; I want you to know that I meant it. I don't want to do anything behind her back because that is just, well, cruel. We have been friends for so long; I won't lie and say that I don't wish us to be more than friends, because, well, I do. But then that is not respecting your relationship with Lavender so much now is it? Why do things have to be so complicated! _

_I hope you have a Happy Christmas. Send my love to Ginny and everyone else at the Burrow and write to me if you have a moment. _

_Love and friendship, _

_Hermione _

_PS: You are a really good kisser also! _

Ron read the note several times over. He was sort of lost in it for some time, taking in each line and trying to understand it all. He was already anxious to get home and write her back-but what to say? He knew he had to break it off with Lavender-but how? He was thinking about the past day and half and how much had happened with Hermione. He didn't think he could possibly put into words what he was really feeling. But he did know that overall, he felt really, really good.

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	4. Chapter 4

Back at the Burrow, Harry and Ron faced over an hour of inquiry from the Weasleys about their visit to the Muggle world and to Hermione's house.

"_What was her house like?"_

"_You rode in a Muggle car! Really?! What was that like?" _

"_Ballet? That is so unlike her? Was she good at it?"_

All of a sudden Mrs. Weasley remembered that it was Christmas Eve. "Goodness gracious!" she cried out to all, "It's getting late and we've got Christmas to prepare!" At that the family began the yearly traditions of cleaning, cooking, decorating and celebrating. Ron always enjoyed Christmas with his family, and it was even better having Harry there to celebrate with them. He knew that Harry had never had a real family and was happy to share his oversized family with his best friend. But he did feel a sense of emptiness without Hermione.

Ron was able to sneak away from Weasley Christmas festivities to attempt a response to Hermione. Her letter was still folded tightly in his pocket and he was thinking about how to respond. She seemed determined to acknowledge his relationship with Lavender even though Ron had all but pretended that it didn't exist over the past two days. She was like that. She wouldn't let him get away with anything-he supposed that was one of the reasons he was drawn to her. He then let his thoughts move to another reason that he felt drawn to her – physically drawn to her. For some time now, she had become the object of all of his thoughts and daydreams. He had started to notice that she was remarkably pretty back in fourth year, her appearance at the Yule Ball was noticed by everyone, including many blokes that Ron wished hadn't noticed because he had to listen to their comments about her over the past two years. The thing is, she didn't try very hard at all to look attractive. She spent way less time on her looks than other girls and usually, and unknowingly, ended up being the prettiest girl in the room. It just didn't seem like a priority to her. Lately though, to Ron, she was just absolutely beautiful, gorgeous really.

He remembered Sirius said that about her once when he and Harry were having a conversation with him at Grimmauld Place right before the start of 5th year. Hermione had just left the room and Sirius looked at them both with a slight grin, "So which of you two knuckleheads will pluck up the nerve to make the first move with her?" Harry and Ron looked at each other, confused, Harry replied, "Uh, sorry…Sirius?" Sirius laughed at them both, shook his head and said, "Well, one of you bloody well do it, brilliant and gorgeous beyond belief, you will hate yourselves in ten years if you let some other bloke beat you to it!" Ron remembered feeling a sense of urgency at this advice but could never admit to himself that he felt _that_ way about one of his best friends. But over a year later, here on Christmas Eve, he was feeling fairly certain that he did indeed feel _that _way about her. Knowing now how she felt gave him the courage to finally just let go and come clean with her – his letter poured out of him like water…

He didn't re-read the letter. He was afraid of losing his nerve. So he quickly tied it to Pig's leg and shooed him off for the delivery. He stood at the window taking in a few deep breaths of the night air and hoped for a quick response from her.

Hermione's parents usually hosted a Christmas Eve party for their friends each year. This year the party was pushed a little later because the ballet performance just ended at 5pm, so the party-goers didn't start arriving until around 7pm. Hermione was trying to enjoy the evening but she was truly exhausted from today's and yesterday's performances. Not to mention she had hardly slept the previous night when Harry and Ron were here. She wondered if Ron had read her letter yet and what he thought of it. She found herself somewhat robotic in her pleasant interactions with her parent's friends. Some of them had brought their own children to the party, a few younger children that she was able to engage in a few games to help keep them from getting underfoot of the adults. Around 9pm Hermione ran up to her room to change from heels to flats to help her run after the little ones, she noticed a tiny owl flapping furiously at her window.

"Pigwidgeon I'm so sorry!" she cried and quickly let him in. She usually left her window slightly open for any owls that needed to slide in post but her mother must have closed it this evening. It was here, a letter from Ron. She ripped open the letter and bounced onto her bed to read it:

_Dear Hermione, _

_I am happy that you liked the bracelet. I was determined to give you something nice to make up for being such a prat to you over the past few weeks. I know you think you were being awful to me by ignoring me, but I believe I was much worse to you. I wanted to tell you the night of Slughorn's party how sorry I was for all of that, but the thing with Cormac (swear I am going to kill him if he even looks at you again) and just you-how beautiful you were that night, it had me all boggled that evening. Truth is, I wanted to kiss you so bad that night but I was just a coward. I have been a coward when it comes to you and me for the past two years. I won't say too much about my regrets but I hope you know what I mean, I think you probably do. _

_Yes I think about our kiss all the time. I mean, pretty much every minute I'm awake – in my dreams too I'm sure. _

_About Lavender – I don't know what I was thinking. I don't want to be with her. I tried to break it off with her on Sunday when we left Hogwarts but she kind of wouldn't let me. I wanted to break it off with her in a letter then but Harry said that would not be such a good idea either. So I really don't know what to do. To be honest, I'm a bit afraid of her, she's kid of mental. Do you have any advice? _

_Merlin I wish you were here with us for Christmas! The minute we walked away in the parking lot today I was missing you really bad. It was really great spending time with you and your parents. Your dad is really great-Harry thought so too. I didn't spend as much time with your mom but she was nice too. Did I tell you how amazing you were at the ballet? I still can't believe you were able to learn all that and perform like that. When we came to see you at the studio earlier today I couldn't keep eyes off you, not just because of your looks you know but because of your dancing, you really were amazing. I hope if you perform in another concert you let me come. _

_Well, mom is yelling at everyone to get the house clean for Christmas so I should go for now but I might write you again later tonight. I hope you have a good Christmas with your parents (and Patrick-ha ha!). _

_Thinking of you, _

_Love, _

_Your best friend, _

_Ron_

After reading the letter a third time, she felt a smile spread wide across her face and she truly believed she felt the proverbial butterflies deep within. This letter – it was perfectly Ron. She could almost hear his voice in her head as she read it. They were on the same page, as far as their feelings about each other. But of course that didn't change the fact that he had a girlfriend.

She had been able to pretty much block the images of Ron and Lavender attached at the lips during the last week before break. There was no denying that it had been incredibly painful her to see them together. She was happy to have ballet as a distraction that week and she probably spent more time in her make-shift studio that she would have had he not been preoccupied so. Now he was telling her that it was all a mistake and asking for advice on how to get out of it. Hermione wasn't sure how she should feel about advising Ron on how to break it off with Lavender. Something about it didn't sit very well with her. Similar to the feeling she had when they'd kissed in her parent's kitchen – she was behaving like the _other_ woman. It was easy to ignore his relationship with Lavender when he and Harry were here visiting, but now that they were away from each other she wasn't able to ignore it so easily.

After some thought, she realized that she was not comfortable advising Ron on his relationship with Lavender. There was too much at stake for her, emotionally, to play that role. She decided to let him know.

_Dear Ron, _

_I am not really having the greatest time here at my parent's Christmas party. I've been chasing my parent's friend's children around to try and get them to play some games while all of their parents are drinking way to much wine! I've just escaped to my room and saw Pig at my window with your letter. Your letter made me smile. I've missed you from that moment in the parking lot as well. Harry too of course. We had our Christmas Eve performance earlier today though and I was pretty busy with that. I had difficulty concentrating though during my first number and mum scolded me backstage in front of some of the other dancers – I was mortified! I tried much harder after that of course. _

_Ron, I don't think I should or can advise you about Lavender. I have too much to gain, or lose, and it just doesn't seem right for me to do that. Furthermore, I think that despite the fact that we've both admitted to having feelings for each other, we should probably not act on those feelings again (not regretting our kiss but just want to make sure we are behaving properly) until you get the situation with Lavender figured out. I hope you understand. Do you? _

_I should go back to the party now. I do hope Patrick stops by soon (ha ha ha)!_

_Much love and friendship, _

_Hermione _

She hoped that he would understand her feelings about being an advisor on Lavender. She hoped he also understood why she felt the way she did about pursuing their relationship under the current circumstances. But most of all she hoped that he would indeed end it with Lavender, and soon.

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	5. Chapter 5

Over the next week, Hermione and Ron exchanged letters daily:

_December 24_

_Dear Hermione,_

_Told you I would write you again later. I got your letter. I get it – about Lavender I mean. Sorry to hear your party wasn't such a blast. Hope Patrick showed up to keep you company. Wish it was me though. Time for bed, just wanted to send you a quick Happy Christmas. Sweet dreams. _

_Love, _

_Ron _

_December 25_

_Dear Ron, _

_Patrick did come and he brought his new boyfriend, Elliott. We had a great time and stayed up most of the night and I got a bit tipsy with a half-glass of wine. It is much stronger than butterbeer. Mum had already gone to bed by that time and dad was pretty far gone himself. It was great fun. Patrick and Elliott have promised to take me shopping at Elliott's department store tomorrow; he is a fashion buyer for a department store in London. I'm kind of excited! _

_Today for Christmas dad and I are staying in our pajamas all day, watching his James Bond movies while mum is cleaning up after the party and making pies which she probably won't let me eat. I promised dad I would watch his favorite James Bond movies with him – they're not bad – you would like them. _

_Don't forget to give everyone at the Burrow my love and tell Harry and Ginny to write me as well! _

_Love, _

_Hermione _

_December 25_

_Dear Hermione, _

_Our Christmas day was okay, just okay though not great. Dad and mum seem a bit worried about something that has to do with Harry (of course) and Lupin and Tonks have been here a lot since we've been home. I'm sorry I forgot to mention that to you before now. Anyway, Harry is a bit preoccupied, he spends most of his time with his Potions book and when he is talking to anyone it has usually been Ginny. I figure he gets tired of me all the time and with you not here…did I mention that I miss you? _

_What is James Bond? _

_I am really excited about the Canons match tomorrow! I hope Harry snaps out of his state so we can have a good time tomorrow. Dad bought Bill a ticket so he can go to "keep an eye on us" which is really annoying-as if we need a babysitter! _

_Well, have fun shopping with Patrick and Elliott. As much as I would like to be spending the time with you, I would much rather be at the Canons match than in a department store tomorrow. The only downside is that you won't be there with us. _

_I'll write you as soon as we get home tomorrow! _

_Love, _

_Ron _

_December 26_

_Dear Hermione, _

_The Canons match was great! And they won! It was one of the best days of my life; the only thing that would have made it better is if you were there. Harry was actually pretty okay. Bill was good about keeping his spirits up. I can't understand what is really going on with him but I am sure when we get back to school you will see what I mean and be able to help me figure it out. _

_Speaking of school, I kind of can't wait to get back now. To see you I mean. I still haven't figured out what to do about Lavender. I know you don't like hearing about it but who else can I talk to? I tried asking for Ginny's opinion but she flew in a mad rage at me because I told her that I didn't get anything for Lavender for Christmas even though she gave me something (something hideous by the way that I will never show anyone). Anyway, Ginny says you can't snog a girl's face off the week before Christmas and then not give her anything. I don't see what the big deal is really. _

_How was your shopping trip? Are you doing anything else fun over the break? _

_Love, _

_Ron _

_PS: I still think about our kiss every minute. _

_December 27_

_Dear Ron, _

_How can you not see what the big deal is!? Of course you can't 'snog a girl's face off' and not buy her a Christmas gift! I hoped you would just give her something friendly, but to give her nothing at all?! Ginny is right in this case. By the way, please do not reference your snogging sessions with Lavender to me in any of our future correspondence. I do intend to find out what that hideous present is though-I have my ways…_

_I am worried about Harry. Are you sure he isn't saying anything to you about why his mood has changed? Does he say anything about his scar? _

_James Bond is a fictional character in movies. He is a British Secret Service Agent with all of these amazing cars and he gets a lot of girls. Dad has always liked the movies. _

_My shopping trip with Patrick and Elliott was fun. I bought a lot of new clothes on Elliott's advice. They spent a lot of time helping me pick out clothes; I felt like a doll they were playing dress up with most of the day. _

_Mum is trying to convince me to do another ballet performance this spring, Sleeping Beauty. I will be going to the studio with her the next few days to rehearse and decide if I want to do it. I would need to ask Professor McGonagall if I can skip another course this term (maybe Ancient Runes) and would need to come home to rehearse with the company a few weekends. She would probably say yes. I just don't know, it will be a lot of work, mum is very persistent though. _

_Sorry for yelling at you at the beginning of this letter. _

_Love, _

_Hermione _

_PS: I forbid you to think about our kiss as long as you have a girlfriend!_

_December 28_

_Dear Hermione, _

_What? You are trying to be the boss of my thoughts now? You go too far (ha ha)! Merlin that kiss is the only thing that keeps me going considering what is going on here. Dad and mum are on edge, Harry is on edge, Ginny is acting weird too, especially around Harry. And no Harry hasn't mentioned his scar at all. I need you here to help me figure all this out! _

_I think you should do another ballet concert. You are really great at it and I can come and see you perform I hope! But on second thought, I wouldn't want too many blokes to have a look at you on stage or you may be swept off your feet by someone taller, smarter, better-looking and funnier than me (if that is even possible – ha ha!). _

_Oh and about that hideous present, if you promise me another kiss like the one before, I'll tell you what it is. _

_Lots of love, _

_Ron _

_December 29 _

_Dear Ron, _

_You are impossible! Thank you for the compliment though. _

_I spent all day at the dance studio in rehearsal for the auditions and I think I will give it a go as long as McGonagall approves. I do think she will though. Did I tell you she came to my Christmas Eve performance? Mum invited her. She was excited about coming to a Muggle ballet concert! _

_Mum is going away with two of her friends for New Year's Eve and day – dad and I will be on our own. Is anything happening at the Burrow for New Year? I would love to bring dad to meet your parents and the rest of the family if you think that would be okay? I don't want to intrude though – let me know. _

_Much love, _

_Hermione _

_December 29 _

_Dear Hermione, _

_YES please come! Mum is already going crazy readying the house for your visit. I told my parents how great he is and they can't wait to have him visit. Harry is excited for the visit too. Ginny squeaked when I told her you would be coming – you can't disappoint everyone now! _

_December 30 _

_Dear Ron, _

_Ok, great! Dad and I will come by floo around 5pm on New Year's Eve. I will bring him to the Leaky Cauldron to use the floo there since it is a more direct route and he has never gone by floo before. He is so nervous! _

_See you very soon!_

_Much love, _

_Hermione _

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	6. Chapter 6

Hermione was both excited and nervous about seeing Ron for New Year's Eve. Mostly excited. But she was determined to maintain her position on their relationship – nothing beyond friendship as long as he had a girlfriend. She still couldn't believe that Ron had not given Lavender a Christmas gift. She sniggered at the thought of it but wondered if the action, or inaction in this case, was motivated by indifference toward Lavender or just ignorance about things of this sort in general. Probably both.

She truly did believe that he got way in over his head with this girl too quick to realize how absolutely awful she could be. Hermione had shared the same dormitory with Lavender for the past six years and had consistently found her to be one of the least likeable girls in their year. She was incredibly gossipy and often the gossip was cruel. Just last year, Lavender started a rumor that Jewel Cassidy, a very nice Hufflepuff girl in their year, was once possessed by dark magic before starting at Hogwarts. Jewel had made the mistake of helping Dean Thomas with his homework one evening. Dean had been Lavender's infatuation of the week and the gossip had eventually caused Jewel quite a bit of trouble as she became somewhat of an outcast. Hermione noticed Jewel spending more time alone in the past year as a result of the experience. As a rule, Hermione did not approve of such rubbish behaviors and thus did not approve of Lavender.

However determined she was to keep their relationship friendly, she was equally determined to look her absolute best when she saw him on New Year's Eve. The thought of rationalizing these two competing constructs was too much for her brain to manage, not when she had to decide what to wear. She was so happy to have practically a whole new wardrobe to select from. When her mother had asked what she would like for Christmas, Hermione mentioned a few books that she had her eye on, but her mother insisted that Hermione needed new clothes befitting a 16 year old young lady.

Over the years, Hermione and Mrs. Granger had battled over clothing for certain; Hermione did not have the same interest as her mother in clothing, fashion and being stylish. But Hermione's hair was their epic battleground. Mrs. Granger was in a constant state of trying to contain the girl's wild hair; it was infuriating for the both of them. Hermione just wanted her mother to let it be and Mrs. Granger wanted her daughter to look, well, presentable. When Hermione had written her mother during fourth year to ask for advice and help with a dress and her hair for the Yule Ball, Mrs. Granger was thrilled to be able to pick out three lovely dresses to send to her daughter to choose from and also send Hermione photos from magazines of hairstyles that would go with the dresses. It turned out nicely that Patrick and Elliott were able to bring her shopping for clothes; she wasn't sure if she and her mother would have been able to survive such a task given their history on the subject. Patrick and Elliott were very knowledgeable about what looked good, but they were keen on tight fitting clothing, which was not something Hermione was used to wearing. They encouraged her to be comfortable with her body though and not feel pressured to "stifle" herself under society's oppressive conventions. This line of thinking made sense to Hermione and thus she had a whole new selection of form-fitting outfits to choose from.

At the Burrow, the Weasleys and Harry were in good spirits for New Year knowing that they would have company to entertain. In addition to Hermione and her father visiting, Charlie Weasley was also home to celebrate the New Year with his family. Visits from Charlie had been rare for the past several years as he had settled in Romania and kept busy with his work. Much to his mother's dismay, Charlie had yet to settle down with a girlfriend or wife. So from the minute he arrived, Mrs. Weasley took every advantage to bring this to his attention.

"Why don't you have a girlfriend Charlie-you should be married with two or three little ones by now!" she cried. "You are such a handsome boy!" at this she grabbed his face within her hands, pinching his cheeks.

"Oommff! Mum! Off with you! No girl wants to be with a bloke who smells like dragon piss!" Charlie said gruffly. Mrs. Weasley smacked his arm at the swear and shook her head in disgust. But it was true that Charlie was perhaps the most handsome of all the Weasley boys-and the most physically fortunate with both a tall and muscular frame.

"Leave him alone Molly." Mr. Weasley told her. Ron's father was beyond excited about having a real live Muggle in his house and had already decided that he would show Mr. Granger his shed where he kept all of his Muggle items. He had so many questions!

Ron found himself getting more nervous about having Hermione and her dad visit as the afternoon progressed. He started thinking that it wasn't such a good idea. With his mother's embarrassing comments to Charlie, his father fascination with all things Muggle, Fred and George's constant antics taking everyone off guard, the evening could be disastrous. Ginny was also in a questionable mood and seemed to be overreacting to everyone throughout the afternoon. Harry was able to convince Ron of a game of Wizard Chess before Hermione arrived.

"You ok Ron? You are playing terribly." Harry told him.

"Oh yeah, I'm fine. Just, not really concentrating."

"Something else on your mind then?" Harry asked with a slight grin. He knew that Ron was anxious about this visit with Hermione and her dad. He knew that something was up between the two of them. Part of him was just hoping that they would just admit that they were attracted to each other and go snog each other's faces off for a few days to get it over with. But there was another part of him that worried about what that would do to their friendships. In truth, Harry was worried about being left out. Ron and Hermione were his family, and the thought of the two of them pairing off made him feel lonely. Sometimes he wondered if Ron held back his feelings for Hermione because he was uncertain about Harry's feelings for her. Harry had considered having this conversation with Ron on several occasions, but he never quite found the right opportunity. Ron was his best friend, but there were certain things that they just did not talk about, and this was one of them.

Ron gave him a slight scowl, "No, nothing else on my mind, your go Harry."

As 5pm approached, the Weasleys and Harry gathered in the family living room to greet the visitors. Mrs. Weasley had a tea ready for Mr. Granger that was laced with an anti-nausea antidote because this was his first travel by floo. Ron was feeling nauseous himself as he looked on Fred and George and realized that they had been way too quiet and appropriate for the past hour. Surely they had something cooking. Ginny was excited to see Hermione but seemed to be angry at everyone else. At 5:10 a puff of ash smoke appeared and a loud crack filled the air in the Weasley fireplace. Mr. Granger stepped out first carrying a guitar case in his hand. He wobbled forward and was steadied by Mr. Weasley who grabbed his hand for a warm shake and offered strong pat on the back.

"Hello Mr. Granger! Welcome to the Burrow!" he bellowed warmly.

"Why, thank you." Mr. Granger was clearly woozy and Mrs. Weasley stepped forward them to offer her handshake and the tea. "It has a bit of anti-nausea antidote-drink up! It will help in seconds!" she told him. He obliged quickly.

Hermione seemed to be hiding behind her father for the first minute or so but she then stepped out to greet everyone. Ginny jumped up first and grabbed her into a tight hug, "Oh I am so happy you are here! Someone normal to talk to!" she cried which solicited a confused smile from Hermione. "Ginny, hi!" she said. Ginny stepped back from Hermione and gave her a once over, "Good Merlin Hermione, you look incredible!" Ginny exclaimed. Hermione blushed wildly and looked awkward, "I got some new clothes." she explained to Ginny.

Hermione suddenly realized that all the Weasley boys plus Harry (and Ginny) were all staring at her almost as if they didn't know her. She knew this feeling; she had it once before at the Yule Ball when she looked almost unrecognizable as she entered the Great Hall that night. She didn't think that tonight she looked _that _different, but from the looks on their faces, perhaps she did. She had worn a simple grey, rouched knit dress with long sleeves that fit her body quite snug and fell well above her knees. She also wore a pair of knee-high black dress boots, with a small heel, that Elliott was able to purchase for her at nearly 75% off with his work discount. He had convinced her that the deal was too good to be true. Her hair was pulled into a loose bun and she was wearing makeup. After her shopping trip with the boys, she had also taken herself to a cosmetic store and learned how to apply eye makeup in a way that 'accentuated' her big brown eyes.

Harry was next to greet Hermione with a hello and a hug, he also seemed taken aback by her appearance but didn't comment about it specifically. He quickly moved on to greet Mr. Granger, who had been shuffled into a chair and was already deep in conversation with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. Mrs. Weasley looked over to see Hermione and jumped up to cross the room to pull her into a hug, "Goodness Hermione, so happy you are here with your daddy dear! My, you look so grown-up! Just beautiful! Arthur, look at Hermione!" she pushed Hermione forward for Mr. Weasley to have a look, he strode over and gave her a quick peck on the cheek to say hello. "Happy holidays Hermione." he said while giving all of his boys a quick and nervous glance. "Happy to have you and your father this evening!"

George leaned down to Ron, who was sitting on the couch with his hands his lap and a lump in his throat, and whispered in a smirky tone, "Hey Ron, why don't you go say hi to Hermione before Charlie has a go at her." Ron looked up at George, "Huh?" and George pointed toward Hermione, "Too late." he added. Ron looked up to see Charlie moving across the room to greet Hermione. This was the first time they had met, Ginny was introducing them and Ron had a panicky feeling like he should be the one to introduce her to their older brother. He jumped up and came over to them. Hermione saw Ron approach and she gave him a giant smile, "Hey." she said.

"Hey." he said back to her, "Glad you made it."

"Yeah, dad was nervous but he did it, looks like he made out okay." she said nervously and nodded in her father's direction.

Ron was trying to keep his wits about him. But seeing Hermione after the past week of their letters and that kiss they had at her house a week before was just a lot for him to handle. Plus, he was completely thrown by her appearance this evening, she looked way older and just…well…sexy. He felt something in his brain shift and knew that all of his future musings of her had just altered dramatically. _Merlin, where did she get those boots!_ His eyes became detached from his brain as he let them roam up and down her and then fixed on her eyes as she laughed at something Charlie said. _Stupid Charlie_, he thought. Her eyes though, they were really something.

"I think the word you're looking for is 'wow'." Fred whispered in Ron's ear. George and Fred then descended on Hermione to say hello and kiss her on the cheek. Ron looked on in disgust, they had always gone out of their way to tease and taunt Hermione and now they wanted to try and be charming with her? She gave Ron an amused look and he felt lighter. He wanted so badly to grab her hand and take her up to his room to have her all to himself_; just talking nothing else of course! _ He knew that his brothers, being the stupid gits they were, would annoy the daylights out of her before long and she might even want to leave early. This was going to be a challenging evening.

Once everyone had said their hellos and once Mr. Granger had recovered from his floo experience, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were eager to show Mr. Granger around the Burrow. Hermione, being very familiar with the family home, settled into a quiet conversation with Ginny near the fireplace while the boys tried to look interested in each other. Ron heard Charlie whisper to Fred, "Wait, how old is Hermione? I thought she was in Harry and Ron's year?"

"She is. " Fred replied.

"Doesn't look it tonight though does she Charles?" George added with a wink.

"No, blimey she looks at least 18!" Charlie was astounded. "You didn't tell me about her." He said to the twins with accusation in his voice.

"Look, we are as surprised as you!" George hissed.

"And intrigued." Fred said with a wink.

"We've never seen her look like this before, I mean, she's an attractive girl but we didn't know she had this in her!" George gave a quick nod in her direction as he spoke. Charlie gave out a low whistle and took a deep breath.

Ron was both starting to boil over at this conversation he had overheard. He knew Charlie was a bit of a 'ladies' man' in school, he seemed to attract a lot of girls because of his good looks and he had a great personality-not too stuck on himself. Ron kind of admired Charlie and often fancied being just like him. However, his feelings toward his brother at this point were far from admiration, he was feeling that familiar jealous rage that came about anytime any other bloke is even slightly attentive to Hermione. Harry recognized it too and tried very hard to think of something to talk about with Ron to try and distract him. He had nothing.

Just then, Ginny and Hermione jumped up and started walking toward the stairs.

"Where are you two off to?" Charlie asked and Ron seethed.

"Going up to my room to talk a bit away from you lot!" Ginny cried.

Hermione looked toward Ron and Harry with apologetic eyes, "Ginny wants to just show me what she got for Christmas." she tried to explain.

"Can I come?" Charlie said, Ron noted in a disgustingly sweet tone.

"No – bug off!" Ginny replied and pulled Hermione up the stairs.

"Lovely." Fred said with a smirk. Charlie watched the girls walk up the stairs and then rounded up Harry and Ron into a kind of huddle, "Ok you two-give me something to use here. What does she like? Does she read? What does she read? Music? Come on, _something_!"

Harry looked at Charlie open-mouthed and then up at Ron with fear in his eyes. Ron's anger with Charlie erupted, "ARE YOU MENTAL?! You are like eight years older than us!" he said in the loudest angry whisper he could produce. "You stay away from her-she's…she's like…she's like a sister to Harry!"

Ron's face blazed a red glow that could have lit up the entire Burrow that night.

Charlie looked confused and a bit put out by Ron's explosion. The twins surrounded the huddle, Fred putting a hand on Ron's shoulder and George, putting a hand on Charlie's said, "You see Charlie, things are complicated here, the thing is, Hermione is kind of...well…she kind of belongs to the little Weasley here," Fred patted Ron on cue, "and if little Ronnie decides that he's not interested, then obviously the next to have a crack at her would be me or Freddy." He went on, "So, given that Ronnie is currently in a state of romantical bliss with one Miss Lavender Brown, it seems to me that Fred and I are positioned to take our place as the next in line." With that Fred nodded his head in agreement with his twin.

Ron jerked away from Fred's hand and walked toward the couch to sit. Harry looked uncomfortable and told everyone that he was just going to check on Mr. Granger, who had ventured outside and into the shed with Ron's parents. At Harry's departure, Ron glared at all three of his brothers and they realized that they had went too far. Charlie relented first,

"Look Ron, I'm sorry, I didn't know you had a thing for her. The way you've talked about her, I just thought, I'm sorry, no hard feelings. I was kind of just kidding anyway; I know she is too young for me." Ron kept quiet but felt his temperature start to decrease. The twins also relented.

"Yeah, and Ron knows we're kidding also, right Ron? I mean, even if she does look bloody brilliant tonight, she is a bit of a know-it-all and she's incredibly bossy-too much for us-right Fred?" George commented.

"Don't talk about her like that." Ron said in a low voice.

The three older boys gave each other a knowing look and George responded, "Ok, sorry Ron, truth is, she's amazing. You should be so lucky that she even allows you to be in the same room with her. But seriously mate, what about Lavender? Why would you be snogging her when you could be snogging _that_!" He pointed up the stairs.

Ron repeated, "Don't talk about her like that." in the same low voice but with more ferocity. Then he took a deep breath and spoke,

"I don't know what to do about Lavender. I don't know why I started up with her in the first place other than I thought it might make her, he nodded upstairs, a bit jealous and pay more attention to me. But now I can't shake off Lavender. I tried to before the holidays and she just flat out refused to be done with it. I didn't get her a Christmas present thinking that might help her get the idea but she just sent me a letter telling me that she forgives me. Meanwhile, things have started happening with, he nodded upstairs again, but I was told that nothing more than friendship would happen as long as I'm with Lavender." He looked on at his brothers with eyes that were both depressed and helpless. All three were brothers were quiet for a moment.

"It is a quandary. But what do you mean that 'things have happened with…?" Fred asked with a nod upstairs. To that, Ron gave a slow, shy smile, and all three brothers gave him a punch in the arm, "Knew you had it in you little brother!" Charlie smiled as Ron turned even redder.

"Ok, ok, so here's what we do." George was eager to formulate a plan, "Tonight we give Ron a chance to be alone with Hermione as much as we can. Ron, you need to step it up and maybe go change that rubbish shirt you have on, look a little more presentable will you?" Ron looked down at his shirt and considered this.

George continued, "Fred and I will keep Ginny occupied as she seems intent to keep Hermione all to herself tonight. At dinner, Ron you try to sit _across from_, not _next to_, Hermione so you can make the frequent eye contact. George and I will flank her so that Ginny doesn't spend all of dinner whispering and giggling in her ear, distracting her from your charming smile."

Charlie was eager to help, "What about me?" he asked George.

"What about you? You just try to not be so handsome or charming and try and keep Harry occupied so that Ron has a chance to get her on his own. Ron, is Harry onto this?" George asked.

"Uh, I don't know really, maybe. He might be. But I can't be sure." Ron replied.

"Well have you told him that you like her?" Fred asked the question slowly with an air of impatience.

"No, not exactly, but we don't really talk about stuff like that – when it comes to her I mean." Ron said with a tone of embarrassment, like he would get in trouble with Harry for even talking about it to his brothers.

The three brothers looked at each other again, this time with raised eyebrows.

"Ok well let's get this going." George started, "Ron you go upstairs to say hey to the girls and I will call Ginny down to tell her that mum wants her. This might buy you a few minutes alone before Ginny catches on."

"I don't know…" Ron said cautiously, truth was, he was thrilled to get a chance to be alone with her, if only for a few minutes, but terrified as well.

"What don't you know? Just go!" Fred pulled him from the couch, pointed him squarely in the direction of the stairs and pushed him forward. Ron pulled his weight up to full height and headed up the stairs. Ginny's bedroom door was ajar and he could hear her talking at full speed to Hermione, he gently knocked on the door.  
"Yeah?" Ginny said somewhat rudely. He pushed the door open and peeked in, the girls were sitting on the bed and Hermione was petting Crookshanks, who sat in her lap.

"Hey." Ron said as nonchalantly as he could. Just then he heard George,

"Ginny! Mum says she needs you right now-RIGHT NOW!" Ron had to chuckle under his breath.

"Oh god what now?!" Ginny said and stormed out the door.

Ron and Hermione watched her go, looked at each other, and then started laughing.

"What is going on with her?" he asked Hermione. "She's gone mental!"

Hermione continued to laugh and Ron found the courage to take a seat in the spot that Ginny vacated. He noticed her eyes again and found himself wanting to say something flattering to her.

"You really look pretty tonight." It was the best he could do. She was clearly touched, "Thank you Ron, that is nice of you to say." As she spoke she continued to pet Crookshanks, who purred contentedly in her lap. "I'm happy we came. Dad brought his guitar, did you notice? He thinks he's going to play it later, I'm so sorry!"

"Are you kidding?! That would be great! He played for us when we were at your house and he was brilliant at it."

She beamed, "Well, he does like an audience. I'm warning you though, he has a dreadful voice." They laughed again. She stood up and walked over to the window to look out toward the shed, "I guess your dad has him there now showing all of his collection-right?"

Ron thought he heard her ask a question but he found most of his thoughts trying to make sense of her figure in that dress. When she stood up he noticed it and he immediately lost his focus.

"Uh, sorry, what was that?" he redirected his gaze to her face.

She felt her face and chest flood with heat and knew she must have turned really red. He was checking her out-she knew he was and if she had to be honest with herself, she was thrilled. _But what about Lavender? _ She wanted to ask him where they stood, but it was so much harder to do in person than in a letter. They had said a lot of direct, and indirect, things to each other in their letters over the past week but for some reason they both seemed to have lost their nerve in being forward with one another face to face. Just then, she heard Mrs. Weasley's voice on the landing, "And here is Ginny's room…" she opened the door and there stood Mr. Granger with the Weasley parents, "Oh, here they are-kids I'm showing Mr. Granger around the Burrow. We'll be eating in just a bit but if you're hungry now there are appetizers on the kitchen table." she said.

"Hermione, your father has shown me how to work this calculator!" Mr. Weasley looked so proud of himself and Mr. Granger looked equally proud. "Arthur you would be amazed beyond belief if I showed you our computer-you really must come and experience it soon." Mr. Granger smiled at Hermione to let her know he was enjoying himself. The adults departed to head up to the next landing leaving Ron and Hermione laughing nearly into hysterics.

As the evening progressed, Ron felt his tension decrease steadily. His brothers had kept their word to do their best to give him some time with Hermione, even Charlie kept up his end of the deal by cornering Harry in conversation when he saw fit. Ginny was becoming less agitated with Hermione there to sympathize with her plight, whatever that may have been. But best of all, Ron had settled into a comfortable place with Hermione that involved more laughing and less awkward pauses. Again, Ron had completely forgotten about the fact that he had a girlfriend, and he wondered if Hermione had also just put that fact on hold for the night. As he considered it, George and Fred approached looking excited, "Ok Ron, Fred and I were talking and we think you should get her for a kiss at midnight." he said pointedly. "What?" Ron asked in a whisper, "Can we go somewhere else to talk about this?" he nodded them out into the kitchen leaving the rest of the family in the living room. "What are you saying?" Ron asked them again. "Midnight, kiss the girl at midnight-it's a Muggle thing-kind of a tradition and you've got to do it." Fred told him.

"It's a Muggle thing?" Ron asked curiously.

"What's a Muggle thing?" Harry had stepped into the kitchen to see what was up.

"Kissing at midnight." George and Fred answered in unison.

"Oh yeah, it is. Why? Is George kissing Fred at midnight?" Harry asked with a smirk.

"Hardy-har-har…no we're talking about Ron kissing Hermione." Fred replied. Ron shot him a blazing look.

Harry stopped and almost choked on the cracker he was eating.

"Why are you talking about Ron kissing Hermione?" Ron looked toward George and Fred as if they had the answer to Harry's question.

"Well, we'll just let Ron explain it to you." George said as he and Fred slowly slipped out of the kitchen.

There were a few seconds pause before Harry started, "What's going on Ron?" Harry knew what was going on; he just needed Ron to be straight with him about it.

Ron took a deep breath and began, "Look Harry, the thing is, I kind of…like her…like her more than a friend, you know? It has been coming on for a while now but when we were at her parents' house last week, well, something happened." He said in a guilty tone.

Harry looked alarmed, "What happened?"

Ron picked up on Harry's tone, "No not that! But, well, we kind of, we kissed." Ron avoided eye contact with Harry as he said it.

"Oh." Harry was quiet for a couple of seconds. "When did _that_ happen?"

"When you were in the shower."

"Oh." Harry paused again before asking, "Was it weird?"

"Weird?" Ron looked up.

"Yeah, weird, you know, because it's Hermione?" Harry asked.

"Well, no, it wasn't weird….it was kind of well…brilliant." Ron told him.

Harry swallowed hard and realized that things had indeed changed. It made him a little sad but he knew that was not what Ron needed to hear right now.

"Listen mate, I've known you had a thing for her for a while, for years really, I just thought I would keep out of it until you figured it out." Harry told him.

"Really? How did you know I had a thing for her Harry? We've never talked about it." Ron asked him, sincerely surprised.

"Come on Ron!" Harry laughed, "You practically foam at the mouth anytime another guy so much as looks at her and I thought you would go mad over Viktor Krum and Cormac…"

"Don't bring up Cormac!" Ron seethed and gritted his teeth at Harry.

"What? Why?"

"Just don't ok?"

"Ok, ok." Harry backed away from Ron. "Look, the point is, you haven't exactly been good at hiding your feelings for her."

"Yeah, well, it's getting harder and now I have this Lavender thing." Ron told him. "What am I going to do Harry-she won't let me end it?" he looked helplessly at his friend.

"Not sure mate, but we'll figure it out." Harry told him confidently. Ron looked relieved. They stood silently for a moment and then Harry asked,

"So she kissed you back then? When you kissed her, she kissed you back?"

"Yeah, why?" Ron asked as if he'd been insulted.

"Just wondering." Harry replied. "So…is she a good kisser?" he asked Ron absently.

"Shut it." Ron told him flatly.

By 10pm everyone was in very good spirits as Mr. Granger had spent some time performing some songs on his guitar and the Weasleys were in awe of his musical abilities. He had also shown Mr. Weasley how to work a recovered CD player that Mr. Weasley had accumulated and they were able listen to some of the music from the CDs that Mr. Granger had given Ron. Mostly the Beatles and Mr. Granger, having had a little too much firewhiskey, ended up dancing with both Hermione and Ginny and Charlie couldn't help himself but get in on the action with two dances with Hermione. Ron scowled at him from the couch and the twins gave him an exasperated look as well. Charlie's response was to shrug and smile. After his second dance with Hermione, he plopped down on the couch next to Ron,

"Sorry Ron, couldn't help myself, how often do I get a chance to dance with a beautiful girl? You understand don't you?" he said teasingly.

"Bug off – why don't you go snog one of your dragons!" Ron said to him.

Charlie laughed and replied, "Listen, Ron, I am going to suggest that you take advantage of this situation and dance with her before this party wears down. Who knows if they'll stay until midnight?"

Ron noticed Hermione watching him talk with Charlie and decided to be a little bolder for the rest of the night. He moved over in her direction,

"Sorry about Charlie." he told her apologetically. "He can be a bit of a git sometimes."

She laughed, "Oh, he's harmless. I guess he doesn't get to do much dancing with those dragons ay?" At this they both laughed. "Listen Ron, I was hoping to get a chance to talk with Harry, do you think you can think of some way to get the three of us alone so I can ask him a few questions-I'm just worried about him. He seems to be avoiding me tonight for some reason."

Ron was slightly deflated. _She wants to talk to Harry. _

"Oh, yeah, sure I will tell him to meet us up in my room. Just go up to the bathroom and we'll meet you in my room." he said.

"Ok." she told him.

She made her way out of the room up the stairs and Ron started toward Harry. But then he stopped. He decided then and there to take this opportunity. He first walked to the kitchen to put away his glass of pumpkin juice, and then he walked back to the stairs and up to meet Hermione in his room.

"Hey." he said to her as he entered, she was sitting on his bed looking through one of his Quidditch magazines. "Hey yourself." she said, "Where's Harry?"

"Oh, he was talking to your dad again." he tried to change the subject and walked over to sit next to her on his bed. "Since when do you read Quidditch magazines?" She held up the magazine and showed him a thumbnail photo of someone they both knew- Viktor Krum.

"Since they've been publishing pieces about Viktor." she said to him with a mischievous gleam in her eye. He felt his heart sink and she could see a bit of hurt in his eyes.

"I'm kidding Ron. You know that right?"

"Ha ha, very funny." he said to her sullenly. They were quiet for a minute before she stood up. "Well, guess I'll have to wait until we get back to Hogwarts to chat with Harry." As she made a move to walk out Ron quickly stood and grabbed her hand, "Wait." he said, "Can I, er, can we talk for a minute?" He found himself clasping one of her hands with both of his. She looked flushed and nervous.

"Ok, what do you want to talk about?" she asked him cautiously. He started to massage her hand with both of his and she felt her knees go a little weak.

"Well, about us. You know about _this_." his eyes were looking directly into hers with a serious gaze.

She felt her knees go weaker.

"Ron, we already talked about _this_. You know how I feel about _this_, but the fact is that you are still with Lavender, and I can't ignore that. If you two break it off then we can have this conversation but for now we just need to stay friends-you know that don't you?"

He nodded. "I know that – you know that I don't want to just be your friend right?" he asked her. She nodded. They stood quietly for a moment while he continued to rub her hand.

"Hermione?"  
"Yeah?"

"I still think about our kiss."

"Ronald! What did I just say?!"

"Sorry, but I can't help it." he told her with a slight laugh.

"You are impossible." she said smiling. They were quiet again as he continued to hold her hand.

"Will you kiss me now?" he asked.

"Ron! No! Of course not!" she told him reproachfully.

"Why not? No one will know."

"_We_ will know." As she said this, she felt her body draw nearer into him. Was she imagining it or was he pulling her closer?

"Ron, we really shouldn't." she quietly told him, feeling her breathing intensify.

"We really should." he said bringing her closer still, closer until their foreheads were touching, he had to bend down a good six inches to reach her.

"But what about…" she started but then she felt his lips meet hers and they fell into a slow rolling kiss that lasted, what felt like, forever. She reached up and put one hand behind his neck and one hand held his face and his hands fell to her lower back and even further down. She felt her body pull even closer to his until they were completely pressed together firmly, moving in waves with the rolling kiss. When they finally pulled away from each other, Ron was the first to speak,  
"_Bloody hell_, that was incredible. You are incredible." He said breathlessly.

She couldn't help but smile at how adorable he was, "You are pretty good yourself." she told him. They both laughed. He took her hands and pulled her in again,

"No Ron, seriously, we have to stop." she told him.

"Why? And don't say because I have a girlfriend!" he told her.

"Well you _do_!" she scolded him. "But it's not just that." She stood back from him but he kept a grip on her hands.

"Then what else is there?"

"Well, everyone is downstairs."

"Yeah, I know-stupid family." he said crossly.

"And…well…"

"Well, what?" he asked her.

"It's just; this is really intense you know? I mean, I just don't want to go so far that…that I won't be able to stop. You know?"

Ron felt like lightening shot through is body. _She wanted to do more than snog him_.

"Oh, yeah, I know." He finally answered.  
"So, this is it, for now. Ok? Ron, seriously." She told him matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, this is it, for now."

"Ok, I'm going back downstairs now." she tried to pull away, "Ron, you have to let go of my hands." She told him with a giggle. He let go.

"That's it." she said, shaking her finger at him as she walked backward out of the room, "No more kissing."

"For now?" Ron asked.

"For now." She told him and gave him a huge smile as she made her way out the door and to the bathroom.

Ron collapsed on his bed and felt as if the room was spinning furiously around him. For the second time in one week he had a brilliant kiss with Hermione Granger and she made it clear to him tonight that she wanted more than that – _bloody hell_! For a brief moment, he thought that maybe this was some cruel joke being put on him by George and Fred. _But she was completely into it_ – he thought. He was so deep in thought about her, smiling and staring up at his ceiling that he didn't notice Harry come into the room to tell him,

"Ron, your mom is making Charlie dance with her – you've got to come see!"

Hermione closed and stood against the bathroom door feeling completely giddy. Rather than scold herself for kissing Ron (again) while he had a girlfriend, she congratulated herself on being so straightforward with him tonight. She felt it more important to be honest with him about her own feelings rather than focus on the Lavender business. It was true that her response to his kiss did frighten her a little, she felt a bit out of control and didn't want to make a fool of herself. She tried to recollect everything she had said, it was fuzzy, he was a great kisser. She quickly checked herself in the mirror, her hair had frizzed a bit and her makeup was somewhat undone, but overall okay. She hoped she would be able to contain her blushing when she went back downstairs.

The rest of the night was good fun with continued eating, singing, dancing and a few games. The twins captured Ron in the hallway with raised eyebrows, "Well?" they asked.

He gave them a quick nod and a look that screamed success. "Excellent." they said in unison.

Charlie continued to pay more attention to Hermione than necessary. She responded by making frequent eye contact and eye rolls to Ron whenever Charlie was in her vicinity. Ron felt like a million galleons. Before long it was midnight, everyone brought in the New Year with hugs and kisses on the cheeks. Charlie kissed Hermione on both cheeks as Ron looked on with narrowed eyes. Hermione hugged Ron and surprised him with a quick but substantial kiss on the lips.

"Happy New Year Ron." she said with a smile. "And _that_ was it … for now." she whispered in his ear.

Soon after midnight, Hermione and Mr. Granger departed the Burrow. Charlie offered to accompany them and return home tomorrow because Mr. Granger was quite drunk and they all worried if Hermione could manage him on her own. "No I am perfectly able; no need Charlie but thank you anyway." She looked nervous at the prospect and noticed that Ron looked furious. Once they'd gone, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and Ginny said their goodnights, Ron turned on Charlie,

"You are a RIGHT FOUL GIT you know that!?" Ron bellowed at Charlie.

"Easy Ron, you know I was just having some fun. Seriously mate you need to deal with your anger issues." Charlie told him before heading upstairs.

"You really do Ron." Fred agreed with Charlie.

"Shut it." Ron told him.

"Look Ron, you keep doing what you did tonight and those anger issues will work themselves out. Don't worry about Charlie-she only had eyes for you all night." George told him with a wink.

"Ok, ok I'm going to bed." Ron said; he clearly did not want to have this discussion with his brothers, especially with Harry in the room.

Upstairs after they settled into their beds, Harry was nearly asleep when he heard Ron whisper desperately through the dark,

"Harry? Harry you awake? Harry you've got to help me shake Lavender. Do you have any ideas?"

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	7. Chapter 7

_January 1 _

_Dear Hermione, _

_I hope you made it home okay with your dad. Sorry about Charlie trying to throw himself on you as you tried to leave. He is such an idiot sometimes. _

_Well, I just wanted to tell you how great it was having you here last night. And mum and dad really liked your dad-they want to have your mum over sometime too. I was just happy to have you here-did I tell you that you looked really pretty last night? You did. Also I wanted to tell you that our second kiss was even better than the first-which was beyond brilliant. When you kissed me at midnight I was surprised-I think mum noticed, but she hasn't said anything. _

_I am looking forward to seeing you on the train on Sunday. Please don't be mad if you see me and Lavender together. I am trying to figure out how to break it off with her and Harry is helping me. By the way, I told Harry that we kissed and he seems okay with it. _

_Can't wait to see you on Sunday. I will look for you at the station. _

_Love,  
Ron_

After reading Ron's letter twice, Hermione felt herself grow clammy. _Harry knows_. She was surprised that Ron told him about it and the thought of Harry knowing didn't exactly sit well with her, but she couldn't quite understand why. She felt a strong bond with Harry, she always had, but she knew that her feelings for him were absolutely platonic in nature. She had never had a desire to kiss Harry and she never felt sick when she saw Harry talking to another girl. Those were feelings that were exclusive to Ron. She supposed her anxieties were mostly about protecting Harry's feelings. She didn't want him to feel like a third wheel or feel left out. She knew that she wanted to make sure that Harry never felt that way, regardless of how things ended up going with her and Ron.

She wanted to respond to Ron's letter but she didn't have time now. Her mum had just arrived from her overnight stay to announce that the Grangers had dinner plans with the Rileys. Dr. Riley was one of her father's longtime friends and fellow dentists, the two were roommates during their time in dental school. The Rileys had two children, a daughter one year younger than Hermione and a son a couple of years older. When Hermione was eleven, the summer before she began at Hogwarts, the two families vacationed in Spain together. She hadn't seen the Rileys since.

When the Grangers arrived to meet the Rileys at the restaurant, Hermione noticed that their youngest daughter, Jillian, was missing. "Kate, where is Jillian?" Mrs. Granger asked Mrs. Riley as the two women greeted each other. "Oh she had a bit of a tantrum, she had plans with friends, so she won't be with us." Mrs. Riley looked at Hermione apologetically. Mrs. Riley then hugged Hermione and guided her toward a tall young man standing next to her. "But Hermione, you remember David don't you?" David smiled and put his hand out to shake Hermione's hand. "Oh yes, I do. Hello David." she said politely.

Hermione remembered David as a studious boy but not particularly social. She remembered on their vacation over five years ago that he spent most of this time with his face buried in a book and Hermione was left to entertain Jillian. Now David seemed a bit more engaged in the world around him and in truth he was quite good-looking. She smiled at him and felt herself blush as he gave her a once over, she had chosen another more "grown up" outfit for their dinner, for no particular reason.

Mr. Granger and Mr. Riley had fallen into a deep conversation since they had all arrived, hardly noticing the others. But all at once, Mr. Riley exclaimed loudly, "What on earth?! Edward, is this Hermione?! This lovely young woman cannot be Hermione?!" Hermione and David both looked embarrassed at Mr. Riley's outburst. "Yes this is my girl, isn't she lovely?" Mr. Granger stood behind her and put his hands on her shoulders, as if she were being presented to the Rileys, a gesture she found both humiliating and infuriating. The mothers stood back beaming and Hermione could not dare bring herself to make eye contact with David. Luckily, their party was called and they were off to their table.

By the time they finished salads, it had become apparent to Hermione that her mother was a very clever woman. Clearly, Mrs. Granger had intended to introduce Hermione and David in hopes of a potential romance. Hermione knew this because she could read her mother's expressions quite well and picked up on all the obvious conversation scaffolding: "David, do you still read a lot? Hermione is always going at it with three to four books at once!" and "Hermione, David has been at university for a full term now, he could answer all your questions about it!" She could hardly believe her mother's presumptuous behaviors. _When had Hermione ever spoken about going to Muggle university?_ It was as if her mother had forgotten who Hermione was and what her life involved. It was hurtful, but mostly it made her angry.

David seemed to be slightly amused by the situation, which made Hermione even angrier, and he kept staring and smiling at her when she felt herself blaze red with anger at her mother. He was somewhat reluctant to speak about himself but Hermione learned from Mrs. Riley that David was intent to follow in his father's footsteps and study to become a dentist.

"What about you Hermione?" Mrs. Riley asked and David looked interested. Mrs. Granger answered quickly and nervously, "Oh she doesn't know yet, she enjoys all of her subjects though. She truly is a gifted dancer-she did beautifully in the ballet last week!" Mrs. Granger successfully diverted the conversation away from school which gave Hermione a sick feeling in her stomach. David asked her a few questions about ballet that she tried to answer, but she truly felt ill as the reality of her mother's performance settled in. She excused herself and made her way to the ladies room-feeling cold and dizzy. _She is ashamed of me._ The thought hit her like a stone. In all of her life, she had never felt that her parents had shame about her – about her magical abilities. It was if her entire world shifted from under her.

She barely said two words throughout the remainder of the dinner and she only pushed the food around her plate, unable to eat. David noticed and said to her quietly, "Not hungry?" She looked up giving a half-smile and replied, "No, not really." He seemed pleased that he got even this out of her. By the end of the dinner, Mrs. Granger had mentioned to Mrs. Riley that she and Hermione would be spending the next day at the dance studio and that she should stop by to say hello. Hermione was pained to think about spending an entire day at the studio with her mother after tonight. "Yes, sounds like an idea." Mrs. Riley replied. As the families said goodbye, David pulled Hermione aside and told her, "Don't worry, my mom is just as bad if not worse. Why do you think Jillian isn't here?" At this, Hermione gave him a genuine smile. He was actually kind of nice.

Mr. Granger, having been intensely engaged with his old friend during dinner, was surprised at the explosion of tension that erupted from his daughter on their ride home.

_"Mum, you are UNBELIEVABLE!"_ Hermione cried at the slam of her door from the backseat. Both parents turned around, giving her a surprised look.

"What?" her mother asked innocently.

"What?!" Hermione was incredulous. "How can you even ask me that?! You know exactly _WHAT_!"

Mrs. Granger turned forward, looking prim, "You are being a silly girl." She said curtly. Mr. Granger, was still confused, "What happened?" he asked looking from his wife to his daughter and back again.

"He's a nice boy. I thought you might get along." her mother said, trying to sound casual.

"Ah." Mr. Granger understood a bit. "Well, he's okay I guess, but not really your type is he sweetheart?" he gave Hermione a wink.

Hermione felt tears in her eyes start to spill down. "Mum, you know that's not what I am talking about." She paused. "You know I have never talked about going to a Muggle university and you made a point to avoid discussing my schooling because you were ashamed to tell the Rileys."

"We aren't supposed to tell people about your schooling! You know that!" Her mother was getting riled. "You're being ridiculous!"

"Right, I'm being ridiculous! Why did you imply that I would be interested in talking to David about university? That is not part of my plan!" Hermione cried.

"Well maybe it should be!" her mother turned on her, "What is your plan dear? You have wasted years at Hogwarts with nothing to show for it. What about dancing? You could have developed so much further along and what kind of future do you suppose you will have without university?"

"Jean, please before you go too far." her father's voice was stern.

"_Too far?!_ Edward, we have placated this far too long! She needs to understand that in the real world things are different and she had to think about her future!"

"Mum, I do think about a future for myself, in the magical world of course!"

"Oh please, what does that even _mean _Hermione?!" her mother said dismissively waving her hand.

At this Hermione, fell silent. It was if her mother didn't know her at all and she felt her stomach curl into a tight knot. She had an aching desire to be back at the Burrow-with friends and especially with Ron.

She remained silent the rest of the evening. She cried herself to sleep and was too overcome with a headache the next day to fight with her mother again. She woke early and left for the studio obediently with her mother. Mrs. Granger pretended as if their row never occurred, she made an effort to engage in small talk but Hermione kept her responses short and simple. At the studio, she went through motions half-heartedly but her mother held back from criticizing. Toward noon, Mrs. Riley did indeed arrive - with David, who looked uncomfortable. He looked even worse for it when his mother said, "David I need to spend some time with Jean, why don't you take Hermione for some lunch?" Mrs. Granger gave Hermione a cautious look but Hermione refused to give her mother the satisfaction of making eye contact.

"Well, I would be happy to if she would like that. But it's completely up to you?" he asked Hermione directly. _What was she to do? Say no? That would be rude wouldn't it? Why would she do that to him? He was nice. It wasn't his fault that the mothers were insane. _

"Oh yeah, sure, thank you." she said, David looked relieved.

The two of them just went to a small café across the street for a quick bite. "Well your mom was right, you are a good dancer. I watched through the two-way." he said as if he had been doing something naughty.

"Oh, thank you." she replied politely. "I don't practice nearly enough, it is kind of my mum's thing really." she told him somewhat thoughtlessly. They went on to have a good conversation about favorite books,

"Pride and Prejudice?" he asked her quizzically.

"Yes-why?" she picked up his tone.  
"Well, most smart girls like it but you seem like a different kind of smart girl." He was trying to flirt, but it was a clumsy attempt.

"You're making quite a number of assumptions about me – I'm not sure if I like that." she told him teasingly. He gave her a smile that made her heart jump. _Oh my god, I am flirting with him!_ She quickly felt guilty and tried to move their lunch along so she could get back to the studio. He seemed a little let down about her eagerness to leave.

"Wow, that was a quick lunch." he said sadly, then added, "Too quick for me." Hermione tried to pretend that she didn't hear the last part he said.

"Thank you for lunch." she told him.

"It was my pleasure."

"Well, I hope you have a good term at university."

"Yeah, you have a good term at school also."

"Ok, bye then." she started toward the studio doors.

"Hey wait, Hermione…can we write?" it was a bold move on his part.

"Oh, well, er, yeah, of course." she said without thinking it through.

"Ok, can I have your address then?"

She was quick to answer, "Just send to my parents, they forward all my mail to me."

"Oh, okay, great then!" He was satisfied with her reply and gave her a big smile. "Ok, I will definitely write then." he said.

She waved and headed up the steps two at a time.

When she arrived home late that afternoon, Pigwidgeon had arrived with two letters-one from Ron and one from Ginny. She opened Ginny's first.

_Dear Hermione, _

_Well only one more day until we go back to school and I can't wait. Everyone here is driving me mad. Especially Fred and George. Harry continues to be moody and mysterious. Charlie is leaving tomorrow which is good because Ron is really annoyed with him for some reason. Charlie finds it all very amusing which makes Ron even more annoyed. Speaking of Ron, he came to me yesterday asking weird questions about you, what is your favorite flower, season (?), stuff like that. What was that about? Anyway, can't wait to see you Sunday! Sit with me on the train okay? _

_Love, _

_Ginny _

After reading Ginny's letter, she had to smile at Ron's not-so-subtle efforts of finding out more about her. It was incredibly sweet. But it didn't change the Lavender situation. She read Ron's letter next.

_Dear Hermione, _

_I was hoping to hear from you before we see you at the station tomorrow but I guess you've been busy. Well, I just wanted to say hi to you and let you know that I am thinking about you all the time – really and truly – every minute. _

_Love, _

_Ron _

She smiled at Ron's letter and felt a strong yearning to be with him and talk to him about her situation with her mother. Since the dinner with the Rileys and row that followed, Hermione felt empty and lonely here with her parents. She had never felt that way before. Her father sensed the change in her and made feeble attempts to cheer her mood and she appreciated his efforts but they didn't really help. Making matters worse, Hermione knew that her parents had argued after she went to bed that night following the dinner and she knew her dad had slept in his office last night. She was feeling uncertain about many things and wanted to have Ron here to talk to. A letter would have to suffice.

_Dear Ron, _

_I am sorry for not writing sooner. Yes it has been busy. A lot has happened here the past two days and none of it very good. On Friday night we went to dinner with family friends where my mum tried to match make me with a fellow I knew from years ago. Our fathers went to dental school together and are great friends and I guess mum thought she could decide for me who I should date. Anyway, he was nice enough but I am infuriated with my mother right now. It was quite humiliating and what's worse is that his mother all but insisted that he bring me for lunch today during my break from the studio. He just showed up with his mother at noon and well, I couldn't very well say no with both of our mothers there glaring at me! And again, he is nice and all, but he is two years older at university and well, the whole experience was just dreadfully embarrassing. _

_Worse than that, my mum and I had a row after the dinner and she said that I had wasted myself with all the years at Hogwarts. She dismissed me when I told her that I wanted my future to be in the magical world and she called me silly and ridiculous. Then she and dad had a row about it and he slept in his office last night. I hate the thought of the two of them at each other because of me. Dad is protective of me and mum says he is also silly and ridiculous. It was very bad. _

_Well, obviously I am counting the minutes until the train to Hogwarts but I don't want to leave my parents like this. Maybe tonight we can have a civilized discussion and work it this all out. Thank you for listening. See you tomorrow. _

_Love,  
Hermione_

As Ron read the first part of the letter he felt the familiar jealous heat rise in his stomach and chest. But as he read the second part his heart began to ache for her. The jealousy was still there, but he allowed himself to stay calm and not read those parts a second time. _But wait, did she say how nice he was on two separate points in the letter?_

He was personally affronted by her mother's claim about Hermione being silly and ridiculous. He knew many silly and ridiculous girls, Lavender was one of them, and Hermione was nothing like them. She was logical, thoughtful, and kind. Her mother had no grounds for belittling her like that. He was getting angry just thinking about it.

So the fellow who she had dinner and lunch with was older and attended Muggle university. Ron could only imagine how this bloke probably wanted to get her alone so he could run his hands on her. He imagined that he was probably smitten with her because she was beautiful and brilliant and the git was probably lying in his bed right now thinking about her. He thought about him showing up uninvited at her studio, watching her dance. As he perseverated on the slimy git, Ron felt his chest tighten and his teeth were grinding. Thankfully they were headed back to Hogwarts tomorrow where Hermione would be away from her mother and away from this Muggle bloke!


	8. Chapter 8

King's Cross Station was as busy as ever the next day. At 10:45am the Weasleys and Harry were racing through to platform 9 ¾ . Ron wanted to wait for Hermione at platform 9 because he knew her parents rarely made the pass through to 9 ¾ . He saw her making her way toward him, followed by her dad, he didn't see her mother. As she came closer he could see she looked like she had been crying and her father looked pained.

"Oh, there's Ron sweetie." Her dad saw Ron first and nodded in his direction. She looked up and Ron gave her a big smile. "Hey." He said.

"Hey yourself." She said with a weak smile and sad eyes. Her father pulled her in for a big hug and said, "Well this is where I leave you. See you in two weeks?" She nodded. "Ok then. Ron, good to see you." He gave Ron a firm shake, pulled him in for a back slap and whispered to him, as Hermione busied herself with her bags, "Remember, take care of her son." Ron nodded and felt himself grow a few inches taller. Then Mr. Granger gave Hermione one last kiss on the forehead and he was off.

"Your mum?" Ron asked.

"She didn't want to come." She replied sadly and looked as if she might cry.

Just as Ron made the decision to pull her in for a hug, a hug she greatly needed and would have accepted, he was tackled around the waist by a mess of blond curls.

"Won-won! I missed you!" Lavender began to attack Ron with kisses as her mother came up behind her. "So this is Ron! It is so lovely to meet you!" Lavender's mother stretched out her hand and Ron was so taken aback by the greetings he just obliged and shook her hand, "Hello." he said smiling to Mrs. Brown.

He turned to look for Hermione, who was just there, but she had gone. He felt a bit of panic. As he, Lavender, and Lavender's mother pushed through to 9 ¾ he saw Hermione making her way down the platform quickly and onto the train. He was able to get close enough to see, as she looked in his direction, that she was crying.

The train ride to Hogwarts was not the happy reunion he imagined it would be. Actually, it was quite dreadful:

_One:_ Lavender was all over him and she pulled him into a compartment with the Patel twins which meant that he had to listen to gossiping and giggling for the entire ride. When he tried to escape ("I think Harry needs talk to me.") he was told, "Oh no you don't! We haven't seen each other in two weeks and you owe me _lots _of attention!" from Lavender. The Patel twins looked at him scornfully.

_Two:_ Hermione and Ginny were sitting alone in a compartment with two perfectly empty seats – one of which he would have given a finger to occupy. At one point he did escape, to go to the loo, and he stopped to say hi to them. Hermione looked incredibly sad, her eyes were red. Ginny had the same scornful look toward him as the Patel twins had. When he asked Hermione if she was okay, her answer was short and cold, "I'm fine Ron." Just then, another attack came from Lavender from behind.

"Won-won, I want you to buy me something from the trolley." she giggled. Ron glanced back at Hermione only to see that she had fixed her eyes out the window.

"Bye Ron!" Ginny said flatly as she gave him a push back and closed the compartment door firmly.

_Three:_ Harry was hot helping Ron at all with his predicament. He was either buried in his Potions book or pretending to sleep. His moodiness had not changed much and he wasn't very keen on being in the same space with Lavender for very long, so he made no effort to seek Ron out.

In short, Ron was relieved when the train arrived at Hogsmeade Station. He wondered how he could find a moment alone with Hermione to check in on her and see if he could gauge how she was feeling about him right now. He turned to Lavender,

"Listen, I need to talk to Hermione later. You know she is my friend and well, she is having some trouble…with her parents."

Lavender's eyes gleamed and he regretted it as soon as he said it. "Oh? What kind of trouble?" she asked, clearly turned on by the thought of Hermione having any troubles. The Patel twins leaned in, equally intrigued.

"I can't really say, I mean, I am the only person she told." He saw her face contort as she considered the meaning of all this.

"Why doesn't she talk to Harry or Ginny about it?"

He was quick to respond, "Oh, I guess she just let it slip with me and didn't want to worry Harry and Ginny." The Patel twins looked skeptical and Lavender finally said, "Oh well, I know she doesn't have many friends, so I guess it is okay."

_She guesses it is okay? What the hell is wrong with me?_ Ron thought he would just be able to tell Lavender straight to her face when they met today that it was off. Then her mother showed up and things just got sidetracked. Now he's had the whole train ride to get to it and he seemed to be in deeper than ever with her. He felt helpless and pathetic and it was making him angry.

At dinner, Hermione was very quiet, but she was polite to Ron. Lavender sat next to him, but kept her focus on her own friends. Hermione hardly ate, Ron noticed, and announced that she was all done before anyone else.

"Are you going to the library then?" Ron asked her quite loudly as she stood to leave.

She smiled knowingly at him, "Yeah, I am."

He gave her the same smile back, "Just checking."

She maintained that smile as she turned to go until Lavender said,

"Oh Hermione, I'm sorry about your parents." It was clearly meant to be snide and the look on Hermione's face made Ron's heart stop. She started at Lavender blankly, then Ron, and then fled the Great Hall at great speed. Ron jumped up to follow her, hearing Lavender behind, "Ron, where are you going?!"

Hermione was making her way up the staircases swiftly but Ron easily caught up with her,  
"Hermione-wait, wait!" he begged.

She stopped, turned, and hissed at him, "How could you tell her Ron? _How_? You are the only person I told about my parents!" She was outraged, and deeply hurt.

"No you don't understand, I didn't tell her anything other than you were having some trouble with your parents." Ron said desperately.

"Why would you even tell her that?!" she cried, clearly confused about his motives.

"Because I needed to give her a reason why I might need to talk with you alone later." As he said it, he realized how ridiculous it sounded.

Hermione looked fed up as she spoke, "Look Ron, you clearly have feelings for her if you will betray the trust of a best friend to pacify her!" Ron was amazed at the speed to which she drew that line of reasoning.

"NO!" Ron's frustration was starting to get the best of him. "There are no feelings for her. No deep meaning behind it. I am sorry for telling her about your parents! I don't have feelings for her I only have feelings for you." his voice was starting to sound desperate again.

"Then what are you doing? Why can't you end it?" Hermione's voice cracked and she teared up as he spoke. She was being selfish-she knew that. But she needed him, and she was tired of holding back.

"I will end it. I will go down there and tell her to 'eff off and end it." He turned on the spot and headed back down the stairs. The thought of doing just that actually elated him.

"No Ron! You can't be cruel." Hermione grabbed his arm stopping him. "You can't – I don't want that!"

"I don't know what you want then! I don't know what I'm doing! Please help me." he said helplessly. She sighed, "Ron, I can't tell you how to end it – but please don't be mean." He was getting beyond frustrated with the situation and as he looked at her, how beautiful she was, how this seemed to be slipping away, and he started to lose it.

"Well, how did you end it with the Muggle bloke?" he sounded more sarcastic than he intended.

"What?" she said quietly, stepping back.

"Your university chap? How did you tell him to 'eff off?" She took another step back.

"I knew I shouldn't have told you about that." She kept backing away and he took a step forward.  
"Then why did you?" Ron was allowing his jealousy to take over. But now that they had revealed their feelings for each other, and had two amazing kisses, it was much more fierce than before.

"Why did you tell me then? "he asked her again. She was still backing away and he was drawing closer.

"Did he hold your hand?"

"No." she said.

"Did he try to kiss you?"

"No Ron! It was nothing like that!" she cried.

"Then what _was _it like?" he was in her face now.

"Ron, you've got it all wrong! And how did this get turned around on me?!"

His face softened and he seemed to snap out of the jealousy that just possessed his body and mind.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry Hermione. Just the thought of you with some other bloke…made me a bit mental."

She looked at him cautiously, closed her eyes and took a deep breath before speaking,  
"Ron, I told you how I feel, what I want and who I want. The rest is really up to you." Then she turned and flew up to Gryffindor Tower.

He sat down on the steps, thinking about what just happened. Thinking about what an idiot he was and wondering what she saw in him. He also wondered how long it would be before he completely ruined his chances with her. He felt he cut pretty close this evening and he vowed not to let it get that close again. Then he heard that voice.  
"Won-won! Where did you go?" Lavender flopped down next to him.

"Come on, help me with my star chart tonight!" she ordered.

Ron was quiet and did not move.

"Ron-come on!" she gave him a tug.

"No." Ron said with defiance.

He had to concentrate really hard not to be mean.

"Look Lavender, you are a nice person and all, but I just, I don't really want a girlfriend right now. I have so much studying this term, and then Quidditch, I need to focus right now." She looked at him as if he were joking.

"Are you serious?" she asked.

"Yeah, I am. I just want to be friends." Ron reached out a hand as if she would shake on it.

"_Friends?!_" she cried and slapped him really hard across the face. He was boggled.

"What _kind _of friend Ron?! The kind of friend you chase around the whole bloody school year after year with your tongue hanging out like some pathetic dog?! The kind of friend who bosses you around day and night and you just take it?!"

Ron's lip hurt and it was bleeding from the slap, but he felt good.

"Look, whatever, I hope we can be friends but right now, I've got to go." he said rather carelessly. He jogged up the stairs to their tower.

Ron waited on his bed for an hour before heading to the library. He was feeling great-knowing that it was a done deal with Lavender and he was determined to make it right with Hermione. Harry walked in,  
"Hey where have you been?" he asked Ron.

"Here – why?"

"Thought you would want to play some chess before classes start and we get buried in homework."

"Yeah, sure, in a bit though Harry. I need to head up to the library."

"Library?" Harry asked, "Hermione?"

"Yeah." Ron said giving him a dopey smile.

"Great! I'll come too. I was worried about the way she left at dinner. Do you know anything about her parents? They were talking about it after you two left." Harry told him.

"Who was talking about it?"  
"Lavender, Pavarti, the others…"

"_Oh great_. Listen Harry, can you give me some time alone with her first? Just an hour or so and meet up with us later?"  
"Oh yeah, sure, no problem." Harry suddenly felt awkward.

"Great, thanks mate." Ron smiled as he strode toward the door.

"Wait, Ron…what happened to your lip?"

"Oh, she slapped me." Ron told him.

"Hermione?" Harry asked surprised.

"No, Lavender." Ron's smile widened. "I ended it, for real."

"Oh, brilliant – congratulations!" Harry chimed as Ron left the room for the library.

Hermione had been sitting and staring at the same page in the same book for over 20 minutes. She tried very hard to make sense of the passage she just read but her mind kept drifting away. Drifting back to that heated exchange with Ron on the stairs. She was still outraged that he had mentioned the situation with her parents to Lavender. She was sure it would be good fodder for gossip for quite some time. But she also knew, deep down, that he didn't really understand what the implications of telling her would be. He was impulsive – that was for sure. He never really thought things through and she figured most boys rarely did. It was enough for her to forgive him.

But the comments he made about David, the jealousy, she wasn't sure how to make sense of it. She truly did not tell Ron about David because she wanted to make him jealous-did she? But it was true that she had hesitated to tell him about it because she knew he might react badly. Maybe her subconscious wanted to plant a sense of urgency in him that would cause him to get rid of Lavender? The thought that she would allow herself to do that to him made her a bit ill. _But wasn't that what she did with Cormac? _

As if summoned by her thoughts, Cormac appeared from behind a bookshelf.

"Hi Hermione." He said cautiously and stood a good distance away.

She was startled to see him, and a bit alarmed, but didn't want him to know.

"Oh, hi Cormac." She quickly looked back down to her book but she felt her face burning with heat as he looked at her.

"How was your holiday break?" he asked.

"It was fine." She wasn't going to ask how was his.

He was quiet for a few seconds and looking down at his hands he said,

"Listen, Hermione, I want to sincerely apologize for how I acted that night of Slughorn's party. I was really out of line and well, I have felt really terrible since then and wanted to tell you that I'm sorry. I'm really sorry."

She had never seen this side of Cormac before, he was usually very arrogant and self-absorbed.

"Thank you for apologizing. I accept and I don't want to have hard feelings." she told him in a businesslike tone.

He smiled faintly and then said, "I don't know why I acted that way-I just had this crush on you for a long time and thought you might have felt the same way about me-since you asked me to go and all."

Just as she was going to answer, she saw Ron emerge from behind Cormac.

"What do you think you're doing talking to her?" Ron's eyes blazed at Cormac.

"Ron, wait, he was just apologizing…" Hermione stood up and dropped her book to the floor and it made a loud clap that echoed throughout the library.

"Look, I was just telling her how sorry I was Weasley, no need to get riled." Cormac started walking away and Hermione said to Ron, pleadingly, "Ron, it's okay. Really."

As Cormac continued to walk away, Ron pointed at him and said, "You stay away from her." Cormac disappeared amid the bookcases. Hermione picked up her book, sat back down and pretended to go back to reading.

"Can I sit down?" Ron asked her.

"Of course." she wasn't going to look at him yet.

"So he apologized?"

"Yeah."

They were quiet for what seemed like a long while. She finally looked up at him and said,

"Is there something you wanted?"

He swallowed hard, trying to say the right thing. She wasn't making this easy.

"Yeah, I wanted us to talk."

She closed her book and leaned forward placing her hands on top of each other on the table.

"So talk." she told him.

He thought she was really cute when she was being indignant like this and couldn't help but smile a bit at her demeanor.

"Why are you smiling?" she asked him raising one eyebrow. At this he chuckled a bit and felt his smile broaden, "I don't know…I just…" he couldn't stop smiling at her.

"You're what? What is funny?" she was starting to get heated. He didn't answer quick enough for her so she stood abruptly, "I'm leaving." she said decidedly.

"What…no wait, I'm sorry, please don't leave." he reached across the table and grabbed her wrist.  
"I'm sorry; I was just smiling because I think you are really cute when you are angry like that."

"Oh, I'm glad I amuse you Ronald!" she said crossly.

"No, you don't amuse me, I mean you do sometimes but just…can you please just sit down?" He was worried that he was blowing it. She pulled in a deep breath and sat down, but avoided looking at him still.

"I broke it off with her." Ron said.

Her eyes quickly met his. "When?" she asked.

"About an hour ago."

"Oh." she paused, "Sorry."

"Sorry?"

"Yeah, sorry."  
"I'm not sorry, I'm bloody thrilled! Why are you sorry?"  
"I don't know, it's just something you are supposed to say really." They looked at each other for a few seconds before erupting into laughter.

"Well?" he asked.

"Well what?"

"Well, what about _this_?"

"Wait…how did you end it then? What did you tell her?" Hermione was curious.

"I told her that I had a lot going on right now, with studying and Quidditch and that I just didn't want a girlfriend right now. I wasn't cruel about it. Even when she slapped me hard I was civil to her." Ron was pleased with himself.

"She slapped you?!" Hermione was irate. Ron picked up on her tone and it made him happy that she took offense to him being slapped. _This was worth it_, he thought. Just to emphasize the effect he pointed to his bloody lip and said, "Yeah, here right across the face."

Hermione jumped up from her chair and crossed over the table to take a closer look at his lip. She sat on a chair right next to him and leaned in close.  
"Oh, she's wretched. Does it hurt?" she asked but he was unable to answer, he was completely entranced by her eyes. She noticed the look on his face and knew it well, he looked at her like that a lot over the past couple of weeks.

"Ron, do you want me to make it better?"

"Huh?"

"Your lip, do you want me to make it better?" She pulled her wand from across the table and held it up for him to see.

"Oh, yeah, that would be great." he replied breathlessly. She touched he wand gently to his lip, whispered a healing spell and the cut vanished. Then she reached over and ran her finger across his lip.

"How does that feel now? Better?" she whispered to him.

"Uh huh." He was almost floating. He pulled himself closer and leaned in to kiss her.

"Wait, Ron-no! We are in the library!" she pulled back quickly.

"Yeah, so?"

"So, we can't do this here."

"Ok, well, where then?" he looked around as if there would be a place nearby.

She sighed. "Ron, okay so you've broken up but don't you see? You've told her that you don't want a girlfriend right now. How do you think that will look if you and I go snogging all over the school when she thinks the reason you broke up with her is because you don't want a girlfriend?"

Ron was unclear, "I'm not sure what you mean." he told her.

"She's going to think that you just told her that to get rid of her so you could be with me!"

"Yeah, well, that's the truth." he was still confused.

"Nevertheless, can't you see how hurtful that is?"

"No, I mean, yes, I guess I see how she could look at it that way but what does that have to do with us?" Ron was starting to get worried.

"I don't know exactly, but it doesn't feel right." she said sadly.

It was Ron's turn to sigh. "Ok, I guess I see what you mean about the situation. But what does it mean for _this_?" he made a gesture pointing between the two of them. She considered the question quietly for a moment before responding.

"I don't really know Ron. I just know I won't feel right about being your girlfriend right away given the circumstances. " She looked away woefully, "At least in public anyway…"

At this last statement, Ron's forlorn expression changed,

"Not in public? But maybe in secret?" his eyes twittered with excitement. She had to laugh.

"What? Honestly, Ron, you are impossible." _But she is smiling, she liked this idea_, Ron thought.

"Yeah, secret girlfriend, you can be my secret girlfriend." he raised his eyebrows and it made her laugh even harder.

"I'm leaving!" she said smiling and shaking her head.

"No don't leave! Can we have secret meeting spots and hiding places?" he continued to be intrigued by the thought of it. She stood and crossed her arms in front of her, smiling at him,

"Look, I'm not saying yes to anything."

"But you're not saying no either." he pointed out.

She pursed her lips and rolled her eyes.

"You like the idea too! Admit it!" he had her cornered.

She bit her bottom lip considering it all and finally said,

"Let's just say there will be no public displays of affection or anything resembling boyfriend-girlfriend behaviors in front of others. You know, the more I think about this the more I think it is better for everyone-including Harry."

"Harry?" Ron said as if he just took a bite out of something that tasted bad.

"Yeah, I was worried that he would be feeling awkward around us if we, you know, became more than friends, and if we just keep our relationship status private, then he doesn't really have to be exposed to anything that would make him uncomfortable."

Ron knew that finding a logical aspect to this plan would make it more likely to be implemented.

"Oh, yeah, sounds like a good deal all around." he agreed with her.

"And I never really liked public displays of affection anyway, even when it is people I know, my parents for instance…" she stopped herself and Ron saw the look on her face turn suddenly. She sat back in her chair.

"Your parents, Hermione, I'm sorry. How did it go last night? Did you talk to your mum?" he asked.

"We tried, but she hasn't changed her position. She said a lot of things that she seemed to be holding back, for years really. Not just to me, but to dad too. I'm so worried about him. He was really upset that she wouldn't come to the station with us. I was just glad to get away from her at that point…" she covered her face with her hands, "I just hate that I feel that way about my mum." Ron pulled his chair closer still and took one of her hands. She pulled herself together pretty quickly.

"I've promised to do the ballet for her in the spring and I agreed to go back twice a month for a rehearsal with the company. McGonagall's letting me do it. I have two parts that I can manage to rehearse on my own but I will have to work almost every day just to keep up. I am hoping that this will help the whole situation work itself out."

"How will it help?" Ron was skeptical, and the thought of Hermione working herself to death to please her mother made him angry.

"Well, I think she feels like I don't want to be part of her life anymore. She feels like I've chosen the magical world over her. She seems to have felt this way for a long time. So if I show her that I do want to be part of her life, maybe she will feel differently. Ballet means a lot to her and if I show her that I like it too then she might be happy about that. Does that make sense?" she asked him with tearful eyes.

He continued to hold and rub her hand. "Yeah, it kind of makes sense. But do you really like it? I mean, you're brilliant with it, but I know you don't really love it."

"I don't hate it." she said with a smile. "Actually, I do like it. I think I would like it more if mum wasn't so demanding about it."

"Yeah, I can understand that." he looked at her admiringly, "You're a good daughter." he told her.

She smiled.

"And you're really smart."

She cocked her head to one side and pursed her lips again.

"And beautiful."

"We're not kissing in the library Ron." she told him sternly as she stood to gather her books.

"Ok, ok, I know. I've got to find some secret places." She laughed and he helped her put all the books back on the shelves and they made their way out of the library together.

Back in the common room they found Harry eager to spend time with them, which was a nice change from his tendencies toward isolating himself over the past couple of weeks. Hermione read by the fire while Harry and Ron played chess. Ron found himself glancing in her direction often and he assumed Harry noticed, but he didn't care. He was feeling incredible about everything – well except her situation with her parents. He hoped that it would work out well and not cause her too much stress. He wasn't looking forward to having her gone every other weekend through spring, but he understood why she needed to do it. He felt a little guilty about keeping their relationship status quiet from Harry, but he believed she was right about not wanting to make Harry feel awkward. There would be chances for the two of them to be alone but the times with the three of them together were good too. Not brilliant, but good.


	9. Chapter 9

Over the next couple of weeks, Ron was disappointed at the lack of alone time he actually got to have with Hermione. As soon as their courses started up, they were bombarded with homework. It seemed like every professor was plotting against him and his desire to have some down time with his secret girlfriend. Hermione was overwhelmed with her own work but also continued to work hard at keeping Ron and Harry up on all of theirs, as she always did each year. The course content was also more difficult, making it more challenging for Ron and Harry to keep up.

In addition, Hermione was spending extra time away on her own rehearsing for her performance with the ballet in the spring. McGonagall had given her permission again to skip one of her courses and to use a vacant classroom for her rehearsal. She also enthusiastically agreed to allow Hermione every other weekend home so she could participate in live rehearsals. Hermione was often showing up to dinner late, sweaty, and exhausted-looking. If anyone other than Ron or Harry noticed, they didn't say anything. But her attire did get her a few odd looks; she usually just threw on sweatpants and over her tight-fitting leotard. This didn't help Ron's concentration much and he noticed other blokes looking at her more often, even Harry sometimes. It was definitely a challenge to stay focused.

Harry noticed though that Hermione was more patient with Ron these days and it made him happy. He had always noticed times when she would be explaining something to Ron and he would just stare at her blankly, as if lost in his thoughts, and when she would say, "Now do you see Ron?" he would look startled and just say, "Huh?" and then Hermione would become exasperated and scold him for not paying attention. But these days, she had a kinder, softer tone about her and when Ron was unable to grasp a concept she was patient with him, even though he seemed even more lost in his thoughts than ever. He supposed that feeling awkward around them sometimes would be worth it if they could get along better like this.

Ron clearly had difficulty concentrating when Hermione was helping them. It was worse when he had a chance to be alone with her.

"Ron you really have to pay attention here!" she told him as they were going over some of their potions homework one evening, just the two of them-without Harry. Ron was more interested in rubbing circles with his thumb on Hermione's exposed knee. They had found an isolated area of the library but Hermione was constantly on the lookout for anyone who might see them together. The good thing was that it wasn't unusual for them to be together, they had spent the past six years together every day, with Harry mostly of course. But anyone seeing Ron's hand on her knee would know something was up.

"I am paying attention." he told her in whiney voice with a sly smile on his face.

She couldn't contain a smile herself, "No you're not, you haven't heard a word I've said."

He sighed and leaned back in his chair, cradling both hands behind his head, still smiling,

"Can't we take a break?" he asked.

She felt herself blush madly at the sight of him sitting back like that. She knew that he didn't think much of his own looks, but she thought that he was positively the most attractive guy on earth. She felt a strong urge to crawl over onto his lap and kiss him madly. Then she had an idea.

"Ok, a break sounds like a good idea. Do you want to go for a walk? She asked.

"Sure, a walk would be great." He stood and followed her out of the library.

She led him to the east wing of the castle where they rarely ventured to during the year.

"Where are we going?" he asked grabbing her hand after looking around to make sure no one was around. They seemed to be all alone in the corridor.

"I'll show you. Just follow me." She said smiling. They came to a door that looked like it weighed a ton and Hermione whispered something into the door that Ron couldn't understand. The door opened slowly and they entered the room.

"What did you say, how did you open the door?" Ron asked curiously.

"Oh it was just 'aperto' which means 'open' in Italian." she answered.

Ron gazed around at the room they were standing in. It was a classroom but like no other classroom in the castle he had seen. It had no windows but it had one full wall completely covered with mirrors. On the opposite wall there was an enormous map of the world spread across the entire length of the wall. The map glittered with golds, reds, and greens. The blue of the oceans sparkled and glowed.

"What is this?" he asked Hermione.

"It's an old language classroom. At one point in the school's history, the Governors thought it would be a good idea to teach world languages at Hogwarts. I don't know why they ever stopped. Isn't it beautiful?"

"Yeah, it is pretty amazing." He told her. Then he noticed a bar across the length of the mirror.

"Hey, this is your practice room right? Where you've been practicing?"

She nodded. "Yeah, McGonagall helped with the mirror and the bar, she said no one ever comes in this part of the castle but that there was this great room…"

Before she could finish he was standing over her, his hands on her waist, and he said to her in a low tone, "You brought me here so we could kiss right? No one comes here?"

She had to laugh at the way his brain worked. She pushed back playfully and smacked his arm.

"I brought you here to show you where I've been spending so much of my time!" she told him sounding scandalized. Ron was persistent though; he closed in on her again and took her hand in his,

"Oh, okay." He said being intentionally skeptical.

The way he looked at her made feel incredibly exposed. He had been looking at her this way a lot over the past two weeks. She typically disliked being stared at, like when Viktor used to come and stare at her while she studied, that was annoying. But Ron staring at her gave her a whole different sensation, it was thrilling.

Ron was trying to be confident, but in truth he was nervous. He had spent the past two weeks lost in her. Lost in her eyes, her voice, her hair, any of her skin he noticed exposed. There was one afternoon in the common room when she was sitting on the floor with her books all spread out around her, in one of her frantic study states. Ron and Harry were also studying but she studied at a whole different level of intensity than they. He was watching her as unsuspectingly as he could, and he watched as she slammed a book down on the floor, reached down to the hem of her sweater with both hands and pull it up over her head. When she did this, her button up that she wore under the sweater pulled up with it. Ron caught a clear view of her bra and her bare-skinned torso. Every nerve in his body was shocked into alert and he turned all shades of red and purple even. He noticed that she must have been embarrassed because when she threw her sweater aside she quickly made a move to right her shirt. She glanced up at him and saw the look on his face, which was just pure yearning. She then also turned the brightest shade of red he had ever seen and he could also see a small grin spread across her face. It was a moment they both thought about a lot.

Ron had also been lost for the past two weeks in the statement she made to him on New Year's Eve, when they were kissing, about how she didn't want to take things so far that she "wouldn't be able to stop." Indeed he had been lost in that statement. What did it mean? Did it mean she wanted to take things too far or that she wouldn't be able to control herself around him? That thought a far-fetched one in his mind, but then again…

As his mind wondered, she stepped up on her tiptoes and kissed him lightly on the lips.

"Stop thinking so hard, your brain is going to pop." she joked.

Rather than laugh, he dipped his head down and kissed her full on the mouth, allowing all the restraint of the past two weeks pour into her. He kept her body pulled close to his as he wrapped his arms tight around her torso. She responded by doing the same around his neck. Their kissing was so vigorous that he actually felt himself lift her up off the ground. They continued kissing until he couldn't take it anymore and found himself reaching down to squeeze her backside.

"Ron!" she cried and jumped back, looking startled.

"What? Sorry! I'm sorry did you not like that?" he was thoroughly embarrassed of himself.

She kind of chuckled, "Well, it's not that I didn't like it, just, caught me off guard that's all."

He was relieved. "Sorry, I should give you warning when I'm going to grab your arse then?" She couldn't figure out if he was serious or joking.

Hermione stepped back from him, turned and walked over to the closest wall and sat down. Ron felt a bit deflated but he followed her and slid down to the floor himself.

"Was that not good?" he asked with a slight tone of anxiety in his voice.

She looked it right in the eyes. "No Ron, it was fantastic, you're a great kisser, I told you that before."

He seemed a little more relaxed, "Then what's up then?"

She sighed and started picking at the sleeve of his worn sweater, avoiding his eyes now.

"Nothing is up. Just, when you were kissing me…I started thinking…it's nothing."

"It's something!"

She glanced up again and he looked so adorable, she had a hard time explaining this,  
"It's just that I started thinking that I am not the first girl you kissed like this. I mean, I was plenty aware of all those kisses you had with Lavender before Christmas and I know it is stupid, but I guess it is just hard not to think about that." She looked up at him apologetically, "I'm sorry."

Ron didn't want a row with her, but he couldn't help himself,

"What about you kissing Krum?" he asked snidely.

"What?" she asked in the same snide tone.

"You kissed Krum; do you think I haven't thought about that? And that was way worse because he was older and famous and well…" he started to regret he had taken this route, "…just think about that won't you?" he ended quietly.

They were both quiet for a moment looking away from each other. Then Hermione spoke,

"He kissed me Ron. I didn't really kiss him back. He was kind of embarrassed about doing it and I was just, not exactly thrilled about it. I mean I was excited that he had noticed me and thought enough of me to ask me to the Yule Ball but, I really just wanted to be friends with him." She was being sincere and Ron felt two years of weight lifted. Since the Yule Ball he had regretted not asking her, he wanted her to know, "I'm sorry I didn't ask you first. I wanted to. I truly did. I just wasn't brave enough back then."

She smiled and he continued, "And this thing with Lavender, you have to believe me, it was nothing really. I know it may have looked like something, but I really wasn't interested in her at all. It was just, I had heard from Ginny that you snogged Krum and I was really mad about it, I just didn't think and before I knew it I was in it with Lavender."

She continued to be quiet and he told her, "Believe me you are a _way_ better kisser. It's no contest really." With this he pulled up closer to her and leaned in again for another kiss. She held back a little but when he reached out and put his arm around her waist again to bring her closer, she completely reciprocated. What followed was a full out ten-minute snogging that ended with her sitting straddle on his lap as he sat backed up against the wall. Ron was in heaven and marveled at the way she moved her body against his and how she ran her fingers through his hair. She was starting to get more enthusiastic and even fierce with her kissing every minute and it was blowing his mind. He thought about how far things might go from here, like if he should dare to bring his hands to certain parts of her body. He decided that it would be in his best interest to play a conservative approach at this point. No need to escalate things so quickly, even though he desperately wanted to, he also wanted to respect her intentions to stay at this level. _For now_.

When they finally stopped for breath, Hermione sat back on his lap and said breathlessly,

"Ok, we should stop. We should really get back to studying now."

"What!? Are you serious!?" he exclaimed.

"Yes, I am completely serious. If we're going to do this, we have to be able to stay in control." She said it as if she were talking to herself, not Ron. He allowed himself to wonder what "out of control" looked like as she pulled herself off his lap and up to stand.

Ron groaned. He knew he was acting like a child. But it had been a good two weeks since they'd been able to kiss like this and he didn't want it to end. She didn't want it to end either, he could tell, but she was more sensible than he. More sensible than Lavender, who would have went on and on with it had Ron not gotten bored and made up an excuse to take off. He could never get bored of kissing Hermione. He was being honest when he told her she was a better kisser. Knowing that she didn't really kiss Krum, he wondered how she had gotten to be so good at it. He decided to ask her as they moved their way toward the big heavy door.

"Ok, since you didn't kiss Krum, how did you get so good at it? Kissing I mean?"

She giggled and then replied, "I don't know." shrugging her shoulders.

"Seriously?" he really wanted to know.

She paused, "I guess when you are kissing someone you really _want_ to kiss, it just comes natural-that's all. Didn't you ever think of it like that? I mean, when you really feel something for the person you're kissing, it just feels better and you just naturally are comfortable with it."

Ron considered this.

"Yeah, of course….yeah, I definitely get it."

He definitely did get it. He wasn't quite confident or articulate enough to explain to Hermione how much she meant to him but he knew that she meant a lot. The more he went over his feelings for her in his head, he realized that she meant more to him than anyone really. He loved his family of course, but his feelings for her went beyond that. And as for Harry, well, Harry was his best mate and he was terrific, but he couldn't really compare the two. It wasn't just because she was beautiful and brilliant and he just had this amazing make-out session with her, but because she was just everything to him.

As they made their way out of the room and into the corridor, Ron grabbed Hermione's hand and he noticed that this time she didn't panic to look if anyone was watching them. But as they rounded the corner, they came face to face with Luna, a Ravenclaw who was a year younger than they. Hermione quickly pulled her hand from Ron's.

"Oh, hello Ron. Hello Hermione." She said in her usual high-pitched, bubbly voice. She was carrying two empty jars in her hands.

"Hello Luna." Hermione said rather nervously. She hoped Luna hadn't noticed their hands.

"Hey.' Ron greeted Luna. "What are you up to?" he asked.

"Oh, I'm just looking for squaminots. Have you seen any down this corridor? Sometimes they like to hide in the mortars on this floor. They seem to like the temperature in this corridor."

"What is a squaminot?" Ron asked bemused.

"It is a tiny bug, like a flea. If you keep them next to your bed at night your will dreams will be more vivid and you are more likely to remember them the next day. I've been having a reoccurring dream and I can't really remember what it is, although I can remember that it is the same sequence every night, the content is difficult to recall."

Hermione wanted to ask her how you can remember that something is the same but not remember exactly what that something is, but she felt a more urgent need to move along with Ron. Having Luna see them holding hands was a dangerous thing. She was not exactly discreet about her observations.

"See you later then Luna." Hermione quickly nodded Ron away from her as she stood staring at the two of them walking away.

"Have a good evening." Luna called out before turning and making her way down the corridor.

"She's a nutter for sure." Ron told Hermione, slightly laughing.

Hermione gave him a reproachful look, "Don't say that about her Ron, she's just eccentric. I think she's actually quite sweet." Hermione was being honest; she always thought Luna was odd, but sweet.

"I think you're actually quite sweet." He told her shyly.

She blushed and glanced his way, she knew he risked sounding corny just then and it made her happy to know that she was worth the risk.

Back in the library they were able to make a bit of progress with potions homework and eventually Ron's stomach grumblings urged them down to the Great Hall for dinner. They met Harry on the steps out of the library,

"Oh, hey! I was looking for you guys. I saw your stuff here but…where were you?"

They didn't dare look at each other. Hermione led them down the steps toward the Great Hall.

"We were here, maybe just among the stacks." she told Harry casually.

"Oh, yeah, well…Ron, did Parvati find you?"

"No, why?"

"She was looking for you." Harry answered.

"Why?"

"Dunno" Harry shrugged.

Ron looked perplexed and Hermione tried to walk along and pretend she didn't hear what they were saying.

At dinner, things settled down a bit for Ron as he had something more enticing than potions homework to distract him from Hermione-food. He had a brief moment in his head where he challenged himself to choose kissing Hermione versus eating, he chose the kissing. Ginny was the first to look up and see Parvati coming toward them with something in her hand. She stopped behind Ron who was busy eating and until Hermione cleared her throat, getting his attention and nodded for him to turn around, he was clueless to Parvati's presence.

"Hi Ron. I was asked by Lavender to give you this letter. She's not coming down to dinner tonight. You see, she is still upset that you broke it off with her and … well she is just really upset. Thought you would want to know that." she told him sadly. She held out the letter to Ron and he took from her as if it might bite his hand. He gave Hermione a worried look but she just raised her eyebrows and looked like she might start laughing any second. He tried to give Harry the same look but Harry and Ginny were facing each other, trying to contain their own giggling.

"Wow, that was really quite a dismal experience." Ginny said sarcastically. "Ron, you are a real prat for dumping that poor girl." Ginny was teasing him, she knew that something was going on with Ron and Hermione, that had been a long time coming, but she couldn't help herself from teasing Ron.

Hermione tried to keep out of it but she had to giggle a little at Ginny's teasing. Now that she knew how he felt about her in comparison to Lavender, she felt a lot less insecure about the whole thing. But she noticed that he was getting redder by the second as Ginny's teasing continued,

"Well, aren't you going to read it?" Ginny asked him.

He looked at her and said crossly,

"Shut it."

Hermione didn't like where this was going, so she tried to change the subject.  
"Does anyone know when our next Hogsmeade weekend is coming?" The conversation did change over and Ron gave Hermione a grateful look. She couldn't help herself from glancing down at the letter in his hand and he could see where her eyes fell. She wondered if he would actually read it and if he would share it with her. _Of course he wouldn't-he shouldn't_, she thought. Then she had another thought, _I didn't show him the letter I received from David did I? _

As promised, David Riley did indeed write to Hermione her first week back at Hogwarts. The letter was short and formal, nothing to get too nervous about. He did allude to how much he enjoyed her company though and would like to get a chance to see her again. She was anxious reading the letter at all given her status with Ron. She certainly wasn't interested in David, but she also didn't quite know how to deflect his interest without being rude. She also felt that things were so dicey with her mother, she didn't want to do anything to enhance their disagreement. _But should she tell Ron about David's letter? _She did not write him back, yet. But she felt justified in having been so busy with everything. However, she couldn't really avoid it much longer.

In the common room later, most everyone had gone to bed with the exception of a few other late night stragglers. When Harry stepped out to get a book in the boy's dormitory; Ron leaned in and whispered to Hermione,  
"I'm not even going to read it-the letter. I just took it not to be rude. I'm sure it's a load of rubbish anyway." he tried to sound indifferent but he really sounded anxious.

Hermione was anxious too, "Ron I don't care if you read it. You should. She took the time to write it you should take the time to read it. It's just a letter." She stopped and he looked at her thoughtfully.

After a few seconds she went on, "Anyway, I got a letter from that guy and it wasn't a big deal or anything."

"What guy? _The Muggle guy?_ The guy who took you to lunch?" Ron's questions were like bullets coming at her.

"Yes, the guy I told you about." she hissed at him.

"When did he write to you?"

"Last week."

"What did he say?"

"Ron! I don't know, just 'hello, how are you, hope you are enjoying school…blah blah blah.' "she said dismissively.

Ron again found himself fighting jealous feelings. He leaned back in his seat, studying her and noticed that she looked really stressed about this. He wondered what that meant. She noticed his staring.

"What?" she asked him.

"Nothing."

She sighed and then told him, "Look Ron, I told you before, it is nothing. I can't stop him from sending letters."  
"Are you going to write him back?" Ron asked.

"Ron!"

"_Are you_?"

"Yes, I was going to write him back and tell him that I am flattered by his interest but I have a boyfriend who I really care about and hope that he gets the message!" with that she started shoving her books into her bag as if readying to leave.

"Wait, don't go. I'm sorry!"

"I have to go to bed anyway." She didn't want to go to bed angry though. She paused and looked up at him, "Ron, you have to know that I am not remotely interested in this guy. You know that don't you?"

He nodded and said, "Yeah, I know that."

"Look I don't want to go to bed angry, I am leaving in the morning for my parent's house for the weekend and I don't want us to have this argument right before I go. Okay?"

"I don't either." he said defensively. Then he boldly came over and sat next to her, taking her hand in both of his he said,

"Hey, you called me your boyfriend."

His goofy smile made her giggle. She glanced around to see if anyone noticed how close they sat or that he held her hand.

"Yeah, so? Aren't you?" she asked.

"Yeah, I mean, if that's what you want me to be."

"Do you want to be?"

"Absolutely."

She broke into a wide smile and so did he, he gave her hand a quick kiss before they heard footsteps bounding down the staircase from the boy's dormitory. Hermione jumped up with her bag in her arms and looked up at Harry who was giving them a curious look.

"Harry I'm going to bed. Goodnight. Goodnight Ron. See you in the morning."

"G'night." they both replied.

Harry and Ron were quiet for a moment and then Ron noticed that Harry was looking at him strangely.

"What?" he asked Harry.

"You tell me."

"Tell you what?"

"Tell me what the hell is going on with you two?"

Ron couldn't contain his smile. "I don't know, just getting along better that's all." Ron was almost laughing now.

"Yeah, getting along better." Harry said doubtfully. "I suppose you were getting along great when I couldn't find you in the library earlier?"

Ron outright laughed then and started packing up his books.

"Look, Harry, we're getting along better, that's all I'm saying. Can't you just be glad of that?"

Harry looked at his friend and shook his head, smiling. Then he looked up at Ron and said,

"You seriously think that you can handle that?"

"Handle what? Her?" Ron looked offended.

"Yeah."

"What's that supposed to mean Harry?"

"No it's not that! It's just, she's just … well, you know how she is."

"No, how is she?" Ron was starting to get riled.

"She's … well she's just really intense and, I mean I think she's brilliant…"

"You think I'm not good enough for her?"

"What!? Ron no, that's not it. I'm just not explaining myself very well here…"

"Forget it Harry." Ron started to walk off.

"Ron I just meant that she, she's my best friend, but well, she is also really intense and she can be demanding and bossy and…have you thought about all that?"

Ron stopped and turned around facing Harry. He was offended for her but somewhat touched by Harry's intention-which was to lookout for his best friend's well-being.  
"Harry, I know what I'm doing. Believe it or not, I am capable of making smart decisions."  
"I know you are! But, well, you didn't exactly make the best decision with Lavender did you?"

Ron thought it was a low blow.

"This is nothing like that Harry-you know that. I know you don't get it. I don't expect you to. But trust me, we both know what we're doing."

Ron sounded more confident than Harry had ever heard before. What choice did he have but to trust that they did know what they were doing. Ron's telling him that he didn't "get it" bothered him though. It definitely gave him the feeling that he was being left out.

"Well goodnight Harry."

"Goodnight Ron."

Ron did not read Lavender's letter. He took it out of his pocket once he was upstairs in his dormitory and ripped it in half-tossing it into the waste basket. Then he threw on his pjs and collapsed into bed, happy to be alone to let his mind drift with thoughts of Hermione. If he had read it, he would have probably had a sleepless night. If he had read it, he would probably have been more prepared for what was to come. If he had read it, he would have known that for Lavender, things were far from over.


	10. Chapter 10

Hermione left early on Saturday morning to travel back to her parents' house for the weekend. She was reluctant to leave for two reasons: one was that she didn't want to be away from Ron-a silly thought but yet, it was there; two was that she was incredibly anxious about seeing her parents again after all the trouble they experienced over the holiday break. She had written to her dad several times asking him how things were going and the response was always the same, things "fine" and he looked forward to seeing her soon. It was clear that things were not fine and she was worried.

Ron didn't realize that she would be gone already before he came down from the boy's dormitory. He took it upon himself to get up early and maybe see her alone before she was off but was very disappointed to find a note shoved under his door from her that read:

_Dear Ron, _

_I have to get off early to get to get to rehearsal by 9am. I will be there all day. Write me if you have a minute but if not, no worries. I will see you around 8pm on Sunday night. _

_Love, _

_Hermione_

Ron met Harry and the two made their way downstairs for breakfast. Close behind them came Pavarti and Lavender. Ron felt his stomach tighten at the thought of her note and the fact that he didn't read it made him even more anxious. Did she expect something from him? He had absolutely no idea.

The two girls were whispering and shuffling around Ron and Harry as they made their way out the Common Room. Lavender whispered something to Pavarti and then Pavarti turned around and asked,  
"Harry, where's Hermione? She was gone from our dorm very early this morning."

"Um, not sure, she didn't say." Harry replied hesitantly. They had been given clear instructions by Hermione not to inform anyone of her whereabouts as she was concerned about the whole special-treatment appearance. Only Ginny was allowed to know.

"Oh." Pavarti replied curtly.

The girls walked on ahead and Ron told Harry, "Why does she care where's Hermione? I didn't realize she would be leaving so early …or…"

"Or…?" Harry asked snidely.

"Shut it Harry." Ron replied.

Saturday went by very slowly for Ron. He decided around 10am to abandon his rubbish attempt at his Potions essay and take a walk outside. Ron always felt better outside. He let his thoughts turn to his girlfriend, his 'secret girlfriend', what she was doing and how her day was going. It suddenly dawned on him that he was a complete sap for Hermione. Being with her had turned him into a completely lovesick sap. But then again, he had spent most of the past two (even three) years thinking of her in every waking moment and often in his dreams. Over the years he had considered the possibilities of being something more than a friend to her on an almost daily basis. He tried to read into her looks, her actions, so much so that it made his brain hurt and that was when he would end up starting a row with her. Even getting her riled was exciting for him, because it meant she was paying attention, and that she cared.

Now that he had her, it made sense that he would put all that time thinking about _being with her_.

He thought about Harry's comment last night, about how bossy and demanding she could be. This was very true. But she had softened a bit since their first kiss at her house over the Christmas holiday. She was less agitated with him since they started up. He liked it. He had to admit that being with Hermione like this was better than anything he really expected. Except for the fact that they were keeping their relationship quiet for now, things were pretty perfect in Ron's mind.

He was jolted from his thoughts by a girl's voice yelling his name, "Ron! Ron!"

It was Lavender. She was running over toward him from the castle, and she wasn't calling him "Won Won." He looked around quickly to see if anyone was around, no one. He felt a little panicky.

"Ron, hi!" she said giving him a great big smile.

"Er…hey." Ron replied confusedly.

She stood and looked at him awkwardly for a moment, as if expecting him to say something else.

"I saw you leave the Common Room and thought I would come out and talk to you." she said.

"You did?"

"Well, yeah. Did you read my letter?"

Ron had to be honest, "No, not yet. I had loads of homework to do and…"

"You had time to take a walk but couldn't read my letter?" she asked in a hurt tone.

Ron felt like a tit to her but he didn't and he didn't want to muck things up any more than they had been already so he told her, "Lavender, I just…I just want to be friends with you okay? I don't want us to hate each other or to expect anything from each other, just friendship. Okay?"

Lavender's eyes narrowed at him and she backed away a few feet, "I get it Ron, you don't have to tell me twice. I know you and Hermione have a thing going. I'm not stupid. I don't appreciate you leading me on the way you did before Christmas."

Ron felt a searing pain in his head and wanted to get as far away from this conversation as he could. He wondered - _why are girls so barmy!?_ He started to walk away from her back toward the castle. She was right on his heels cursing and berating him the whole way back, calling him every terrible and demeaning name she could think of. Then she started on Hermione, calling her every terrible and demeaning name she could think of. Ron would never hit a girl but when he heard her refer to Hermione as a "stuck-up mudblood", he rounded on her and pointed his finger in her face, "_Don't call her that!_" he spat at Lavender. Then he turned and ran up the castle's steps two at a time.

He stormed into the Common Room, grabbed his homework and bag and started up to the dorm.

"What's the problem?" Harry asked as he and Ginny looked up from their own homework.

"Not now Harry." Ron replied shortly.

Upstairs, Ron lay out on his bed, thinking that he must have been crazy to get with Lavender in the first place, she was really mental! Imagine a Gryffindor calling a fellow Gryffindor such a name? He could handle all the other things she said about himself and Hermione. But for her to use that term, she was sinking very low. He desperately hoped not to have to deal with Lavender again.

Ron felt a sudden and desperate urge to connect with Hermione so he decided to write her a quick note.

_Dear Hermione, _

_I am sorry I missed you this morning. I didn't know you were leaving so early or I would have gotten up to see you off. Today has been rotten without you here. I am trying to work on my Potions essay but not getting very far with it. Promise I will have most of it done before you get back on Sunday night. Counting the hours…I mean minutes. _

_Love, _

_Ron _

Up in the girl's dormitory, Lavender was getting comforted by Pavarti.

"He yelled at me and pointed his finger in my face!" she cried into her friend's shoulder.

"He's horrible!" Pavarti exclaimed. "He and Hermione deserve each other."

Lavender sniffed and sat up and looked over at her friend.

"Do they though?" she asked Pavarti.

"What? What do you mean?" Pavarti replied.

Lavender shrugged, "I don't know, do they deserve each other or should we, you know … teach them a lesson?"

"What kind of lesson?" Pavarti asked, she wasn't exactly disgusted by Lavender's suggestion.

"Well, I told him in that letter that I would do anything to get him back. Now I know it's hopeless, so why should I just sit back and let them get on with it when he pretty much just used me?" Lavender told Pavarti.

"How did he use you?"

"You know, used me for snogging and" … she paused … "other things." Lavender blushed.

"I thought you said you two didn't do anything more than snog?" Pavarti asked her.

"Well, mostly yes, but maybe I fibbed a little." Lavender grinned and Pavarti winced.

Lavender went on, "So he should pay, and she is such a pain, always has been, she deserves it too."

It took another half-hour of convincing Pavarti to assist in Lavender's plot to seek revenge on Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Pavarti was not exactly the vengeful type but she also felt a sense of loyalty to her friend, who had been like a sister to her for the past six years.

"So what are you suggesting then?" Pavarti asked her, finally coming around.

"Well, there's a Hogsmeade trip next weekend and I know that Ron's brothers are renting out Zonko's old joke shop space to host a party there for all 5th, 6th, and 7th years. Not everyone knows about it but I heard about it through Angelina and Alicia. I don't even think Ron knows about it yet."

"Yeah, and … ?" Pavarti urged her to continue.

"Well, l was thinking…"

Sunday went a little more quickly for Ron as he looked forward to seeing Hermione around 8pm. He, Harry and Ginny spent the day doing homework and discussing Quidditch. Once they had exhausted the topic of their favorite sport, Ron challenged Harry to a game of chess which was more of a challenge for Ron since his head was saturated with thoughts of his secret girlfriend.

Hermione made her way through the portrait hole into the common room at exactly 8:05pm. Ron knew because he was looking up at the clock compulsively.

"Stop it Ron! You are annoying the pants off me!" Ginny scolded him.

"Oi! Keep your pants on!" he yelled at his sister.

Harry rolled his eyes at the two of them as Hermione stepped through.

"Hermione!" Ginny alerted them to her presence with a delightful smile.

Ron jumped up as if to go to her but he held back.

"Hey." He said nervously.

"Hey yourself." She replied smiling.

"Hermione, how was your weekend?" Harry asked awkwardly, looking at his two best friends who were in a sort of odd stare down of each other.

Hermione shook her head slightly. "Oh, it was good Harry. Very busy, but good." she said, and then she went back to staring at Ron.

Harry and Ginny gave each other a look and they both rolled their eyes.

"Harry, I need to take this to the library for another hour before bed, do you think you can help me with my star chart for Trelawney?" Ginny asked him with a smirk.

"Yeah, sure. See you two in a bit." Harry said to Hermione and Ron. They hardly noticed.

"Oh, yeah, see you in a bit then." Hermione finally offered as they made their way out the portrait hole.

Ron closed in on her a bit, "Hey." he said again smiling.

"You already said that." she giggled.

"I guess I did." he said embarrassed. "Can we go for a walk?"

"A walk?" she asked him.

"Yeah, maybe to the room?"

"The room?" she smiled widely.

He rolled his eyes at her teasing.

"Well, I don't know, did you finish your potions essay?" she asked him.

Ron never looked so disappointed in his life. Seriously she was going to make him do his homework before he could have a snog?

"_Come on Hermione_…" he pleaded, "it's _almost_ done."

It was her turn to roll her eyes and she couldn't help it, he was too cute to refuse.

"Alright, let's go." she dropped her overnight bag in the corner and started for the portrait hole.

Ron couldn't believe it. Hermione Granger was putting something else before homework! For him! He suddenly had a surge of confidence and as he sidled up next to her he whispered, "You missed me didn't you?"

She pursed her lips and tutted, "You missed me too, admit it."

Yes they missed each other. It was only less than two days and they had missed each other quite a lot and by the time they made it to secret room they both felt the overwhelming urge to snog each other senseless. Which they did until Hermione, as usual, managed to exert self-control and set some limits. Ron decided during this snog that he would push some limits by touching her in some of the places he had only dreamed of touching. He figured it was worth a shot to see how much she would allow. Turns out she allowed him quite a bit of access to the two of three places of her body he found most enticing, her breasts and her arse. The third place, well, he wasn't quite ready for that anyway.

Once they had sufficiently snogged and fondled each other in typical teenager fashion, they were able to have a decent conversation about their respective weekends. Hermione shared her awkwardly unhappy experience with her mother and father over the weekend.

"They aren't really speaking to each other and daddy is still sleeping in his den." She told him with tears in her eyes. "It was pretty depressing being there. What if they get a divorce Ron? What am I going to do if my parents split up?" she cried on his shoulder and he held her close but he had no words of comfort. He really didn't even understand the concept of divorce. In the wizarding world, once you're married, you're in it for life. He thought it was a better way.

"Anyway," she went on, "I spent ten hours at the studio with her on Saturday and another eight hours today and I'm exhausted. I need to finish my own essay for Snape and we need to take a look at yours so come on." she stood up off of his lap and reached out a hand to pull him up. Ron could hear and see the sadness in her and wanted to do something to make her feel happier. He pulled her in close and held her hands in his face.

"Hey, listen, I want to tell you that when we get married someday, that will _never_ happen to us."

She blinked and looked up at him curiously. He sounded really mature. It was a bit strange to hear Ron speak so seriously and assuredly. But she liked it. She felt comforted by his words and suddenly her world felt a lot more safe and secure.

"Are you asking me to marry you Ron Weasley?" she asked with a grin, not able to help herself.

He felt his face flush with heat, "What?! No! I mean, no, not like this." Ron chose his words carefully. Of course he longed to marry Hermione but didn't want to ask her like this, and they were years away from that – _weren't they? _

He was curious, "But say I did ask you, what would you say?" he really wanted to know.

Hermione laughed, "Ron you know what I would say!" she exclaimed. "I would say that I'll marry you if you get your potions essay finished!"

They both laughed as they made their way out of the room into the corridor.

"Oh I forgot to tell you!" Hermione suddenly cried. "Fred and George are having a party next weekend in Hogsmeade for older students at the building that used to have Zonko's Joke Shop. They have some kind of announcement to make and they are doing it with a party."

"Really?!" Ron exclaimed. "How did you find out?"

"They owled me at my parents. They said to let you know since they weren't sending out official owls until tomorrow. They didn't want the word to spread to the younger students so everyone will be keeping the party a secret. I think they wanted you to know ahead of time and telling me was the best way to do that."

"Oh. A party-brilliant! You'll go won't you?" Ron asked her hesitantly, Hermione wasn't historically known to enjoy parties. She knew what his question implied. It implied that she was a bore, a stick-in-the-mud and just un-fun. She had to admit that it wasn't entirely unfair to make that implication. But she had loosened up a bit since Christmas (since their kiss) and she was actually excited about the prospect of having fun with Ron. They certainly had fun at the New Year's Eve to-do at the Burrow.

"I'll go." She told him. "I know I haven't exactly been Miss Party Girl but I guess I just always fretted about getting in trouble or that I should be spending my time doing other things. But I know it's okay to have fun sometimes." she was a bit shy in admitting this to Ron. He reached over and squeezed her hand, making a mental note to start taking his studies a bit more seriously. If she could loosen-up a bit, he could make more of an effort as well.

"Brilliant!" he said.

Just as they rounded the corridor to the Great Hall they bumped into a familiar face.

"Wood!" Ron practically shouted, "Blimey, what are you doing here?"

Oliver Wood was a former Hogwarts student, Quidditch Captain and was now playing in a semi-professional Quidditch league since he'd left Hogwarts.

"Weasley! Granger! Good to see you both! Weasley, you're a giant! How tall are you now? Granger … you look … " Oliver shamelessly looked Hermione up and down, "… different." he finished his statement with a tone that made Ron scowl.

"Hey Oliver, nice to see you. What are you doing here?" she asked him.

He beamed at her as he explained that he was taking a few months to do an internship for the Ministry's Department of Magical Games. His primary task was to assess the Quidditch program at Hogwarts and develop a plan to improve the school's program.

"Sounds interesting." Hermione said matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, intriguing." Ron said flatly and Hermione shot him an arched-brow grimace.

Oliver leaned against the stairwell leading up the dormitories as he spoke,

"So Granger, still racking up points for Gryfinndor House?"

Hermione blushed at this slight compliment and Ron was starting to get miffed.

"Well, we have essays to finish for Snape, so we'll see you later." Ron took Hermione by the elbow and led her up the stairs.

"Oh sure!" Oliver called after them. "Oh, and hey, maybe I'll see you at the party next weekend in Hogsmeade?" he whispered to them but Ron was sure he was speaking only to Hermione.

"How did you know about that?" Ron asked incredulously.

"Your brothers knew I would be here so they owled me."

"_Bloody Fred and George._" Ron whispered under his breath.

"Yeah, we're going. See you Oliver!" Hermione said brightly and bounded up the stairs tugging Ron by his jumper sleeve.

As they made their way to the top of the stairs and to the portrait of the Fat Lady, Hermione could see the scowl on Ron's face. As they made eye contact and Ron opened his mouth to say something Hermione interjected,

"Ron, don't say a word!"

And he didn't.


End file.
